I LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, t 

| ^A/. £.2.1.1.4 | 

^ 0 

i UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, i 



A SETTLER'S EXPERIENCE 



THE LA PLATA CAMPS. 



LONDON : PRINTED B? 
Sl'OTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STUEKT SQTTAKE 
AND PAK1.IA.MENT STKEET 




fio-JRedZion. Square. 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS 



THE FIEST FOUK YEAES 

OF 

A SETTLER'S EXPERIENCE IN THE LA PLATA CAMPS, 



BY 

RICHARD ARTHUR SEYMOUR. 



WITH A MAP. 



SECOND EDITION. 



LONDON. 

LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 



1870. 

3 b e 



TO THE 

HON. GERALD C. TALBOT AND EEY. E. SEYMOUE, 

fit grateful ^ttalkttxovc 

OF 

THEIR "WARM AND CONSTANT INTEREST IN 

THE SETTLEES AT MONTE MOLINO, 



PEEFACE. 



The writer of the following pages is well aware that the 
only apology that is worth anything for the publication of 
a book must be found in its contents. If his readers do 
not find these such as to justify the presumption which 
asks for their perusal, no preface, however ingenious, can 
be of any worth. And yet he is anxious to bespeak the 
favour of those under whose eyes this volume may chance 
to fall, by briefly saying, that while he grants the superior 
merits, in almost every respect, of such works on the La 
Plate regions as Mr. HinchclifF's, Mr. Hutchinson's, Mr. 
Latham's, and though last in its appearance, by no means 
least in value, the work of Senor Sarmiento, the present 
enlightened President of the Argentine Republic, the 
claim of this volume, if it has any claim at all, lies in this 
— that the ground it traverses has been scarcely touched 
by those writers, inasmuch as it is confined almost ex- 
clusively to the simple narration of the difficulties which 



Vlll PEEFACB. 

beset the settler in the first few years of his enterprise ; 
more particularly when he has been tempted to fix him- 
self outside the older settlements, and to be, as in the case 
of the writer and his companions, in the truest sense of 
the word, a Pioneer. 

R. A. S. 

KnnvARTON Eectoet: 
August 25, 1869. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 

VOYAGE OUT — LISBON — BAHIA — EIO — ARRIVE AT BUENOS AYRES 1 

CHAPTER II. 

BUENOS AYRES — VOYAGE UP THE URUGUAY— NIGHT IN A COAL 
HULK — PRAY BENTOS — GUALEGUAYCHU — EIRST IMPRESSIONS 
OP ENTRE RIOS . . . . .10 

CHAPTER HI. 

SEARCH FOR OTHER CAMP — ROSARIO— THE DILIGENCE — FRAYLE 
MUERTO — FIND FELLOW-COUNTRYMEN — EXPLORE THE VACANT 
CAMP — PROVINCE OF CORDOBA— RIDE TO THE CITY OF CORDOBA 
— WOODS OF THE COUNTRY — NATIVE WAGGONS, ETC. — CORDOBA 
— THE SIERRAS — BUY CAMP, AND RETURN TO VIEW IT . 22 

CHAPTER IV. 

PREPARE TO SETTLE ON OUR CAMP — CASA DE FIERRO— JOURNEY 
FROM ROSARIO — RECRUITS — OUR FIRST MEAL ON OUR OWN 
ESTATE — WELL-DIGGING — DOMESTIC ARRANGEMENTS — COR- 
RALS — MORALS OF NATIVE SERVANTS — OUR FIRST CHRISTMAS 
IN THE CAMP — ENDEAVOUR TO PURCHASE SHEEP . . 35 

CHAPTER V. 



LOS INDIOS . . . . . .49 



X 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER VI. 

PAGE 

EIGHBOUES — PROCEEDINGS OP THE PAT — LIONS — TIGEES — 
WOLVES — SNAKES — FEOGS ANP TO APS — BISACHAS — VARIETY 
OF POOP — AEMAPILLOS — CAEPINCPZOS — IGUANAS — GEET FOXES 
— SKUNKS — WILD-FOWL . . . . .58 

CHAPTER Vn. 

A VISITOE FEOM ENGL ANP j THINKS OUE POSITION PANGEEOUS — 

FEIGHTFUL TEAGEPY IN OUE NEIGHBOUEHOOP . . 68 

CHAPTER VIII. 

FEAYLE MUEETO — THE FONPA — INCEEASE OF THE TOWN — ITS 

OFFICIALS — HEALTHINESS OF THE CLIMATE . . .76 

CHAPTER IX. 

FUETHEE AEEIVALS — LOAFEES — SHEEP-PEIVLNG — OUE DOGS . 84 

CHAPTER X. 

CHOOSING THE SITE OF A NEW HOUSE — BEICK-M AKING — HOESE- 
EACING — HOESES OF THE COUNTEY; MOPE OF PEEAKING J 
THEIE COLOUES; HOESE- PEALING . . . .93 

CHAPTER XI. 

PESCEIPTION OF NATIVE SAPPLE ANP PEESS— SAP DEATH OF TWO 

ENGLISHMEN — M.'S DANGEEOUS ADVENTUEE WITH THE INDIANS 105 

CHAPTER XII. 

FIEST APPEAEANCE OF CHOLEEA — CATTLE-MAEKLNG — SALAPERO 

— EUNAWAY ANIMALS. ..... 115 

CHAPTER Xni. 

WE EEGLN TO BUILD OUE HOUSE — ILLNESS — I GO TO LAS EOSAS 
ANP BUENOS AYEES — PATAGONES ANP P ATA GONIANS — CIVI- 
LISEP ESTANCIAS — BUENOS AYEEAN EACES — PEPAETUEE OF 
FRIENDS FOE EUEOPE ..... 124 



CONTENTS. 



XI 



CHAPTER XIV. 

PAGB 

ARRIVAL OP HAMS — RETURN TO FRAYLE MUERTO — PLEASANT 

NEWS PROM HOME— RETURN TO MONTE MOLINO . . 134 

CHAPTER XV. 

SHEARING — OUR NEW HOUSE — THE INDIANS AGAIN . .144 

CHAPTER XVI. 

THE CHOLERA— LAST SIGHT OP THE INDIANS — ELECTION OF THE 

PRESIDENT ....... 156 

CHAPTER XVII. 

WE BEGIN PLOUGHING — ENGLISH TRAVELLERS — A MYSTERIOUS 
ROBBERY — LISADA'S ADVENTURES — FERTILITY OF THE SOIL — 
I RETURN TO ENGLAND . . . . 165 



POSTSCRIPT 



178 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



CHAPTEK I. 

VOYAGE OUT — LISBON — BAHIA — RIO — ARRIVE AT BTJENOS AYRE3. 

I sailed from Liverpool, January 17, 1865, in the 
Kepler, bound for Buenos Ay res, intending to join a 
friend who had already been for a year and a half in the 
Argentine Republic, where we both hoped to make a 
rapid fortune by sheep-farming ; how far these sanguine 
prospects have been realised I am now about to relate. 
I think also that a slight sketch of the difficulties, dis- 
appointments, and successes of a settler's life, in the River 
Plate, may not be wholly devoid of interest. 

I went on board early in the morning, and about ten 
o'clock we started. It was a cold raw day, and as we 
slowly steamed down the Mersey, I was glad, as soon as 
I lost sio-ht of the friends who had come to see me oif, to 
go below, and examine into my prospects of probable 
comfort during the voyage. These appeared rather pro- 
mising, as, our number of passengers not being very large, 
I was favoured with a cabin to myself, opening on the 
saloon. 

I was not able to indulge in much sentiment about the 
last sight of old England, as she was wrapped in her usual 
veil of fog ; and if Lord Byron's celebrated i Farewell' 

B 



2 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



had occurred to my mind, I must have bid f Adieu' not to 
blue but to bro.wn water. The weather, however, on the 
whole, was very favourable, and we steamed rapidly along. 
I was much relieved by discovering myself to be a far 
better sailor than I expected, and, until subjected to the 
severe test of the Bay of Biscay, imagined myself quite 
impervious to the e Maladie de mer.' But once well 
embarked on those stormy waters, we experienced some 
really rough weather, and very few of the passengers 
appeared at dinner on the first day. My chief amuse- 
ment just then consisted in watching the large shoals of 
porpoises that used to play round the vessel, quite regard- 
less of the rough state of the weather. I tried some shots 
at them with a revolver, but am happy to reflect that I 
did not succeed in abridging their ungainly existence, as 
porpoises are not among the delicacies usually served up 
on board ship, and necessity had not then reconciled me 
to the many varieties of food of which I have since par- 
taken. 

On the 24th we sighted the lighthouse just outside the 
Tagus, but for a day and a half the fog continued so 
thick that it was not till the afternoon of the second day 
that we could venture to cross the bar, and even then 
were forced to run in without a pilot. This delay did not 
sweeten the tempers of either officers or passengers, and 
many phrases which might be called strictly nautical 
were employed on this trying occasion. Once fairly over 
the bar, however, all annoyances were forgotten, or only 
enhanced our admiration of the beautiful view before us. 
The weather was lovely, and the banks on each side of 
the river, covered with verdure, made one conscious of 
having reached a more sunny clime. The most striking 
feature, however, on the banks of the Tagus, to the 
less poetical stranger who now beheld them for the first 
time, was the enormous quantity of small windmills ; the 



LISBON. 



3 



cause of this I have been unable to discover for certain, 
but the unflattering reason I have heard assigned is that 
the Portuguese millers are such thieves that everyone is 
obliged to turn miller on his own account and grind his 
own corn for himself. I may just hint, by the way, that 
in my own beloved country I have heard a proverb which 
appears to throw a doubt on the integrity of other millers 
besides those on the banks of the Tagus — 

Give me a miller that will not steal, 

Give me a webster that is leal, 

Find me a clerk that is not greedy, 

And lay these three a dead corpse by ; 

And by virtue of these three 

The same dead corpse shall quickened be. 

We soon passed Cintra, which stands back at some little 
distance from the river and is beautifully situated among 
the hills, but the mist, though partially dissipated, pre- 
vented our seeing it at all clearly. About two miles 
below Lisbon stands Belem Castle, an old fortress, part 
of which appears to be of very ancient date; here the 
coast-guard boat and also that of the captain of the port 
boarded us, to carry out the vexatious quarantine regula- 
tions, which we were luckily able to escape on showing 
our clean bill of health. We then proceeded up the 
Tagus, and soon anchored close to Lisbon. 

Here we were shortly joined by the Herschel, one of 
the same line of steamers as the Kepler, but homeward 
bound, and found, to our surprise, that she had on board 
the crew of H.M.S. Bombay, the flag-ship at Monte 
Video, which had just been unfortunately burnt, and was 
bringing them back to England. I found amongst them 
several officers to whom I had letters, which I had not 
expected to deliver so speedily. 

We landed almost immediately and went up to the 
Braganza hotel, and, having established ourselves there, 

B 2 



4 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



we proceeded to lionise Lisbon. The town is built on a 
number of little hills, the natural result of which is that 
most of the streets are very steep. The recollection of 
the dreadful earthquake appears still to be very vivid in 
the minds of the inhabitants of Lisbon, as I was told that 
the houses are still constructed to suffer as little as pos- 
sible from a similar misfortune, the walls being built with 
a sort of wooden frame into which the lime and stones are 
tightly pounded down. 

The streets are very well paved, and there are some 
fine squares. One called by the English sailors ' Rolling 
Motion Square ' is paved in a most peculiar manner with 
black and white stones, arranged in such a way as to 
have the appearance (more especially by moonlight) of 
small waves. The Opera House is very fine, and the 
performance of 4 La Marta,' which we attended, was 
good. 

We left Lisbon on the afternoon of the 25th with a 
fair wind, and in a few days sighted Palma, one of the 
Canary Islands ; but we unfortunately passed the Peak 
of TenerifFe at night;, so that we saw nothing of it. Our 
weather was beautiful, and the night splendid, as it was 
just then full moon. The stars have a friendly look to 
the traveller at sea, being the only perfectly familiar 
objects on which his eye can rest, and the faithful ( Orion ' 
carries him back to calm English summer nights, or 
frosty winter evenings, when he has shone above him in 
other and well-remembered scenes. But even here there 
is a change, and the f Southern Cross' did not equal my 
expectations, nor in my opinion can it at all be compared 
to the old i Great Bear.' We generally had some singing 
in the evenings ; one of the passengers played the violin, 
and another the flute. There being only one lady on board, 
dancing was not very practicable. I also amused myself 
with my Spanish studies, and embarked upon s Gil Bias.' 



BAHIA. 



5 



We went through the usual ceremonies on passing the 
Line, some of the new hands on board being favoured 
with a visit from old Father Neptune; the passengers 
escaped an introduction to this venerable god by paying 
the usual fine. In spite of these innocent relaxations, I 
found the voyage very tedious, and was not sorry to arrive 
at Bahia, which we did on the 14th of February. 

We landed at once, and in spite of the intense heat 
most of us directly set off for a walk of some miles, after 
the manner of Englishmen ; some of our company, how- 
ever, fell into the ways of the country at once, and were 
conveyed in the sedan-chairs of the place, called cadheras. 
The public gardens are pretty, and there is a beautiful 
view from them over the blue waters of the bay. I 
gathered some pods of a very pretty flower, a creeper, 
with blossoms something like a pea in shape, but of a 
pale blue colour, and sent them home, where I believe 
they grow well in a conservatory. The first sight of 
tropical plants and flowers must strike everyone much, 
and the white buildings of the town looked intensely hot 
and dazzling in the glaring sun. I went into the cathedral, 
which was most splendidly decorated : there were silver 
candlesticks and candelabra, and the shrines covered with 
gold lace, &c. There were some very fine frescoes on 
the roof, and in a sort of open court, outside, were some 
curious pictures of Scripture subjects on China tiles. 
Still Bahia in general is not a lovely town, the streets 
being narrow and ill-paved and very offensive to the 
olfactory nerves. We only remained there one night, 
and after another expedition into the country on the fol- 
lowing morning to a place called Bamfu, sailed in the 
evening for Rio, feeling no great envy for one of our 
fellow-passengers who remained at Bahia. 

We reached Bio de Janeiro on the 19th, and entered 
the harbour at about five o'clock in the morning, and 




6 



PIONEEKING IN THE PAMPAS. 



having risen earlier than was my wont, to admire the 
entrance to the most beautiful harbour in the world, I 
was a good deal disgusted to find everything wrapped in 
a fog, so thick that we could see no farther than the bows 
of the ship. We consoled ourselves with breakfast, and 
on returning to the deck found that the fog had cleared 
away, and the lovely bay lay stretched before us in all 
its beauty. The Italians say 6 Vedi Napoli e poi mori.' 
but the inventor of that proverb had certainly not seen 
Rio, as no national partialities can, I think, compare any 
harbour in the world to that which we now beheld. The 
entrance to the bay is very narrow, with the Sugar-loaf 
mountain rising straight out of the water on one side, 
and the fort on the other. Through this picturesque pas- 
sage you come at once into the immense bay, more than 
sixty miles round. The wide expanse of blue water 
shone brightly in the morning sun as we slowly steamed in, 
and the magnificent background of mountains rose in the 
distance. 

The town of Bio lies to the left as you enter the 
harbour, and is very picturesquely situated, many of the 
houses being dotted about among the thick tropical foliage 
of palm trees, plantains, &c. Behind the town rises the 
Corcovado mountain, and other hills stretch round to the 
right until they reach the Organ mountains, which are 
just above Petropolis, the favourite summer resort of the 
fashionable inhabitants of Rio. We soon landed, and 
agreed to spend most of our time in an expedition to 
Tijuca, a lovely spot among the mountains. After going 
about eight miles by train we procured mules, on which 
we rode to the hotel, and after ordering dinner there, we 
proceeded some four miles farther, along a winding path 
up the mountains, until we reached a beautiful waterfall 
surrounded with pines and flowers. 

The sun was just setting as we returned to the hotel, 



RIO DE JANEIRO. 



7 



and the view over the harbour, with the town stretched 
at our feet, the white shipping in the bay glowing in the 
departing light which lit up the distant mountains with 
every imaginable tint of purple and gold, altogether made 
up a picture which must have been seen to be realised ; 
and certainly no words of mine can adequately describe 
the lovely scene I then beheld. All around us was the 
most luxuriant vegetation in the world; orange-trees, 
bananas, palms, and tree-ferns towered above us, and the 
ground was carpeted with flowers of every colour, some 
of them extremely sweet ; humming birds and butterflies 
added to the brilliancy of the scene ; some of the latter 
are immensely large, and I saw several which appeared 
to be about the size of an English thrush. But the 
whole place was to us like enchanted ground ; and with 
every allowance for the feelings of travellers weaiy of 
the monotony of life on board ship and ready to think 
any spot of green earth a paradise, and also for the first 
dazzling effect of tropical scenery on the eyes of those 
hitherto accustomed to the gloomier colouring of our 
northern home, I think it is impossible that in this world 
there can be any other place so perfectly beautiful as 
Rio, nor can any description, either in poetry or prose, 
ever do it justice. I forgot to mention that at one of the 
houses near the waterfall I beheld something which de- 
lighted me even more than the large butterflies, one of 
which, by the bye, I vainly endeavoured to capture ; this 
was a small ant-eater about the size of a little terrier dog, 
with a large bushy tail and a collar round its neck, so 
tame that it followed us about like a dog, and I should 
have much liked to carry it off with me. We spent the 
night at the hotel, and during the early part of it a 
most tremendous thunderstorm came on ; the lightning 
had a magnificent effect among the mountains, which it 
lit up most splendidly ; and the violent rain was rather 



8 



PIOXEEEING 1^ THE PAMPAS, 



surprising to us after the drizzling showers of England, 
which certainly give no idea of what hard rain can be in 
the tropics. On returning to Rio next day, we went into 
the market, and were much amused by all the new beasts 
and birds which met onr eyes ; the gaily-coloured parrots 
and some lovely little marmosets especially took our 
fancy, to say nothing of the handsome negro women, 
slightly inclining to embonpoint, who looked very like 
bronzed statues in picturesque dresses. 

Before returning to the ship I visited the cemetery 
appropriated to foreigners, which is about two miles out 
of the town and beautifully situated, lying at the foot of 
one of the hills, and running down almost to the water's 
edge. The graves are well kept, and I soon found the 
one I was in search of, which, like most of the others, 
w r as in a very good state ; nor could anyone, I think, de- 
sire for those whom they most love a more beautiful and 
peaceful spot as their last resting-place than the burying- 
ground at Gamboya. 

But we could not linger long on these delightful shores, 
and were soon tossing- again on the waves of the Atlantic. 
We spent one night, the 30th, at Monte Video, the capital 
of the flourishing little republic of Uruguay, but, after 
Rio, the scenery was not very striking. The carnival 
w r as just going on, and I carried away a lively remem- 
brance of the pastimes then practised, as some fair damsel 
dropped from a balcony upon my head a paper bag filled 
with water, which immediately burst and drenched me 
thoroughly. T\ r e reached Buenos Ayres about eight 
o'clock on the 2nd of March, and anchored so far out that 
my first view of my adopted country was a very indistinct 
one. The towers and spires of the churches were the 
only objects that broke the flat monotony of the distant 
view ; but the most interesting sight to us was that of the 
whale-boats approaching to carry us to the shore, for 



MODE OF LANDING IX BUENOS AYEES. 



9 



the harbour is so shallow that a large ship is unable to 
approach nearer than five or six miles to Buenos Ayres. 
An enterprising speculator has recently proposed to re- 
medy this, by reclaiming a large part of the inner roads, 
on condition that the recovered land shall belong to him ; 
but for some reason or other he has at present been un- 
able to agree with the Argentine Government as to the 
terms of the undertaking, and it seems to be abandoned. 
I soon entered one of the boats which were to convey us 
to the shore, and after about three hours' row, under a 
very hot sun, was landed upon the mole, as the tide was 
then high ; so we were not reduced to the usual igno- 
minious expedient of landing in a cart, which is one of 
the customs of Buenos Ayres which strikes a stranger 
with some surprise. 



10 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



CHAPTER II. 

BUENOS AYEES — VOYAGE UP THE UEUGU AT— NIGHT IN" A COAL HULK 
— EEAT BENTOS — GUALEGXJATCHTJ — FIEST I1IPEESSIONS OF EN TEE 
EIOS. 

If my accounts of settling in the River Plate strike my 
readers as being less 6 couleur de rose ' than previous 
descriptions of the country which they may have read in 
the various interesting books already written by tourists 
in the Argentine Republic, it must be remembered how 
different are the impressions derived by the passing 
traveller, who, after perhaps the bustle and noise of a 
London season, spends a few pleasant holiday weeks 
among entirely new scenes, and visits the houses of long 
established and prosperous Estancieros, from the opinion 
of the same country formed by the new settler, who 
generally is forced to go to the very edge of civilisation 
in search of his fortune. The traveller, free from care, 
and with no thought in his mind but the enjoyment of the 
new scenes amidst which he finds himself, has simply to 
take his fill of the amusements which the hospitable 
Estanciero delights to provide for him. The settler, on 
the contrary, in the sort of locality which I am about to 
describe, with every possible disadvantage to contend 
against — of want of protection from Indians, want of 
timber, want of fuel, want of servants, and last of all, the 
great want which originally led him to fix his residence 
in a foreign country, want of money — endeavours slowly 
and with many hindrances to arrive at the same state of 



IMPRESSIONS OF BUENOS AYRES. 



11 



comfort and prosperity which has given the traveller so 
favourable an idea of the position of English settlers in 
the Argentine Kepublic. 

I spent about five days in Buenos Ayres before pro- 
ceeding up the country to join my friend, and received a 
good deal of kindness from several people to whom I had 
letters. A great deal of good advice was given me as to 
the best means of seeking my fortune ; but opinions were 
divided on this point, some advising one part of the 
country, some another, and as there appeared not to be 
much safety in this multitude of counsellors, I was com- 
pelled to follow my own devices, and have since come to 
the conclusion that Experience is the only safe guide in 
the New as in the Old World, though unfortunately she 
costs nearly as much in the former as in the latter. The 
town of Buenos Ayres is built on a regular plan, that is 
to say, the houses are built in blocks of a hundred and 
fifty yards square ; all the streets are therefore quite 
straight, and from the flat nature of the ground you can 
see a long way through them, a circumstance which pre- 
vents much picturesque beauty. The Plaza de la Vic- 
toria, with a statue erected to Victory, in the middle of 
the square, is the finest part of the town, and here are 
also the cathedral and hall of justice. The immense 
amount of people on horseback strikes one directly, and 
it is rather a novel sight to an Englishman to see the 
number of horses standing every afternoon, quite un- 
watched, hobbled outside the Bolsa while their owners are 
transacting their business inside. Grooms are not much 
of an institution here, but the horses seem to understand 
their duty well, and stand perfectly still until their riders 
come out. 

There are a good many wealthy English merchants in 
Buenos Ayres, and some of their houses are very hand- 
some. I was not much charmed with my hotel, the 



12 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



internal arrangements of which seemed to show that 
cleanliness was not held in much esteem ; but at this time 
I was more particular than becomes an Estanciero, and 
experience has taught me to be very thankful for much 
slenderer comfort. 

On the 8th of March I started for Gualeguaychu in 
Entre Rios, one of the thirteen provinces of the Ar- 
gentine Republic, situated between the rivers Parana and 
Uruguay, whence, as my intelligent reader will at once 
discover, is the origin of its name, Entre Rios. The city 
of Buenos Ayres is about three hundred miles from the 
sea, and is situated on the river La Plata, which, however, 
is here so enormousty wide as rather to resemble a gulf 
than the mouth of a river. The La Plata is formed by 
the junction of the Parana and Uruguay, about fifty 
miles above Buenos Ayres ; and the province of Buenos 
Ayres lies entirely to the south and west of the La Plata. 
Entre Rios and Corrientes are the only two provinces to 
the east of the Parana, the others all lying to the west ; 
the two provinces between the rivers are therefore very 
well protected from the Indians, and being fertile, and 
possessing very good pasture for sheep and cattle, have 
become a favourite resort for settlers, and, with the ex- 
ception of Buenos Ayres, are certainly the most thickly 
populated part of the whole republic. Land has con- 
sequently become very dear, and in the last four or five 
years has almost doubled its value. There are a great 
many flourishing Estancieros in Entre Rios, who have 
either made or are in a fair way to make large fortunes ; 
but of course most of these have been here for a great 
many years, and began in the happy days when a small 
capital went farther in Entre Rios than it will do now. 

I embarked in the steamer Era, and found a good 
many passengers on board ; one of my companions in 
the Kepler was also going to Gualeguaychu, and there 



FRAY BENTOS. 



13 



were several other young men bound on the same errand 
as myself ; one of them, who had already been settled in 
the country some time, had come down to meet some 
friends, and cheered us with promising accounts of our 
new El Dorado. There were also some ladies on board 
whom I had met at Buenos Ayres, and being very nice 
people our voyage promised to be an agreeable one, and 
we all started in high spirits. We found we were to be 
accompanied by some of the conquerors of Paysandu, in 
the shape of several ferocious-looking soldiers in scarlet 
ponchos, whose general appearance was more picturesque 
than prepossessing. They were proceeding to the seat of 
war in the Banda Oriental, where the war between the 
Blancos and Colorados was then raging, and from the 
way in which they swaggered about, appeared anxious to 
impress us with their military character, nor did we feel 
inclined to take any liberties with them. 

We reached Fray Bentos at about twelve at night, 
and discovered that our destination there was a coal hulk, 
on board of which we were to wait for the small steamer 
for Gualeguaychu. Some accident appeared to have 
happened to this steamer, and we were informed she 
would not arrive till next day at the earliest. Report 
said that the accident consisted in the captain and chief 
engineer having made themselves ill by eating bad 
lobsters ; at any rate, it was not until the following day 
that they were sufficiently recovered to resume their 
nautical duties. As we had nothing to eat or drink in our 
temporary sooty home, we composed ourselves to sleep on 
the boards, and very hard we found them. Our slumbers 
were not protracted very late into the following morning, 
and we went ashore rather early in search of breakfast. 
The town of Fray Bentos was not then at all striking; 
in fact, the plan hung up in the little hotel where we 
breakfasted, of the important city which sanguine owners 



14 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



of desirable lots of building land expected to see arise, 
reminded me strongly of the city of i Eden ' in e Martin 
Chuzzlewit ; ' but since then I believe Fray Bentos has 
really grown very rapidly, and become an important 
place, as I see it described as such on the small pots of 
Liebig's extract of meat, which I find introduced into 
every well-regulated English household. But at the 
time of our visit the skeleton streets had a melancholy 
and curious effect, very different to any little rising 
English town ; and not caring to linger in such an un- 
attractive place, and finding there seemed to be no chance 
of the steamer's arrival, we engaged an English boatman 
to take us all up, with our lighter luggage, in a whale- 
boat, so called, I do not exactly know, why, but certainly 
from no connection with the whale fishery. 

We took about six hours to reach Gualeguaychu, and 
stopped sometimes to land and amuse ourselves by shoot- 
ing ducks and partridges. The scenery along the banks 
of the river was rather pretty. Willows, orange trees, 
algaroba, and other trees, whose names I did not know, 
grew in great quantities, and the beautiful air plants, as 
they are called here, hung in profusion from the trees. It 
was very curious to see this hanging garden of lovely 
coloured plants, which would have been a perfect paradise 
to the possessors of English conservatories. The creepers, 
too, added to the effect, especially when, becoming creepers 
ourselves, we forced our way on hands and knees through 
the bushes, and found their long fibrous stems twining 
themselves round our arms and legs. We had provisioned 
the boat well, after our experience on board the hulk, and 
the expedition was more like a party of pleasure than a 
serious journey. We passed the steamer (or she passed 
us would, perhaps, be the most correct way of putting it) 
about half way to Gualeguaychu, and our little craft 
sailed gaily up to the pier, about the middle of the after- 



ARRIVAL AT GUALEGUAYCHU. 



25 



noon ; and before I had gone more than a few steps from 
the shore, I met the friend whom I had come so far to 
join. After the natural greetings and enquiries after re- 
lations and friends, we went together to the hotel, and I 
found that Frank had brought in a horse for me to ride 
out with him to the place where he was living, which was 
about five leagues from Gualeguaychu ; a league in South 
America (I may as well here say) is a little over three 
miles. We were detained a day or two in the town, as I 
was obliged to wait for my luggage, and to pass it through 
the custom-house, always a tiresome business, and par- 
ticularly so in this country, as the duty is heavy on various 
articles indispensable to all emigrants. 

Gualeguaychu, where I now found myself landed, was 
then a superior place to Fray Bentos, with good accom- 
modation, and fair shops; and many English having 
settled in its neighbourhood, some of them may generally 
be found in the town, where they meet for business, to 
fetch their letters, obtain stores, and for the same inscru- 
table reasons which collect all the farmers in a country 
neighbourhood in England once a week in their own little 
market town, whether they have anything to do there or 
not. Here I first made acquaintance with some real 
settlers, compared the accounts of their various failures 
or successes, and formed some idea of my future mode of 
life. After a few days we rode out to my friend's home, 
which was only fifteen miles distant, and rejoiced in the 
picturesque name of Santa Barbara. It was rather an 
original residence, built entirely of fine reeds, the roof 
and walls just alike ; in fact, the thing it most resembled 
was a straw rick with the inside hollowed out. This 
little nest, the work of Frank's own hands, contained a 
bedroom and sitting-room, the latter possessing a stove. 
He had been sharing these extensive accommodations 
with one companion, an elderly man, an amphibious sort 



16 



PIOXEEKIXG IX THE PAMPAS. 



of creature, of uncertain position and doubtful nationality, 
one of those people occasionally to be met with about the 
world who belong to nowhere in particular, He had, 1 
think, originally been a Dane. He left a few days after 
my arrival, being of no further use at the establishment ; 
nor is it, I hope, unkind to say that, from the size of our 
mansion, his room was much more valuable than his 
company. 

Frank's was a sheep farm ; he rented three thousand 
acres, i.e. about half a league ; his stock was two thousand 
sheep, and in twelve months the flock had nearly doubled 
itself. Entre Bios is the favourite part of the Republic, 
but as it has been settled for more than ten years (by the 
English, that is to say — the date of the discovery by the 
Spaniards was somewhat earlier), land is not to be had 
without a considerable outlay. It has decided attractions, 
as, besides the pleasantness of the country, with its hills, 
woods, and abundant streams, most of the inhabitants are 
the sons of English gentlemen. Some of the older settlers 
have made for themselves comfortable quarters, and their 
estancias are not without the home look that the English 
delight to carry with them all over the world ; the only 
nation that approaches them in this respect, so far as my 
experience goes, being the Germans. This was, of course, 
especially the case where the influence of a lady prevailed, 
and there are some very happy English families to be found 
in Entre Rios. ~No lady, however, had better venture to 
undertake the life unless she has good health, a brave 
heart, and an active pair of hands, for all will be wanted. 
B., a neighbour of ours, had a wife who fulfilled all these 
conditions. She had been one of the prettiest and most 
fashionable young ladies in Dublin, but that did not pre^ 
vent her from cooking, washing, anc [ doing the work of 
the house, whenever, as was not seldom the case, the 
servants failed; and I hope I may be allowed to add, 



FIRST NIGHT IN THE PAMPAS. 



17 



that she looked as pretty and as happy while engaged in 
those occupations, as by all accounts she did in her former 
way of life. Some ladies have still harder work, as I 
know of one who kept her husband's sheep, but I sincerely 
trust these animals will in the end prove lucrative enough 
to keep her in the comfort she well deserves ; at present 
I fear she, like myself, is a little inclined to consider 
sheep-farming a delusion and a snare. Looking after 
the sheep was my own occupation when first I arrived. 
Frank milked the cows, being the most expert hand at 
that business. He also cooked our dinner, while I was 
scullerymaid, and washed up the things, but before long 
I graduated in the noble and useful art myself. The 
straw house proved fairly comfortable after the first awful 
night, when I might as well have slept in a henhouse for 
all the rest I had ; but either the fleas tired of me or I 
got used to them, for I never suffered afterwards. 

As this was not to be our permanent home I did not 
feel obliged to stick very closely to work, and partly em- 
ployed myself in riding about the country, and making 
acquaintance with the owners of the various estancias, 
whom I found a very hospitable set. We had a little 
duck-shooting in the neighbouring streams. Shooting is 
the sport of the country, unless you have a fancy for 
stalking ostriches, of which in this part there are great 
numbers. They are not so large as the African species, 
nor are their feathers in equal request in the London 
shops ; but they are nevertheless of considerable value, 
and a good deal of money may be made by the skilful 
hunter. 

The first sight of them was one of the things which 
made me realise that I was far away from Europe and the 
old familiar creatures ; and very curious were my sensa- 
tions when, a few days after my arrival, I sat down to 
write my first letters home. Frank had gone to a neigh- 

c 



18 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



bour to assist him in the interesting occupation of parting 
his flock, and I was left quite alone to look after the house 
and sheep. I seated myself near the door of our little 
hut, and having arranged a someAvhat rude desk, looked 
out at the scene I was about to endeavour to describe. 
The slightly undulating green plain, covered with long 
rough grass, stretched away to an interminable distance, 
a few patches of red and purple verbenas making a %light 
variation of tint here and there in the long waves of ver- 
dure ; some little way from the road a number of ostriches 
strolled about, with majestic indifference to my presence, 
though I must say that some natural instinct inspired 
them with the unhappy idea of keeping just out of gun- 
shot. A pet lamb was strolling in and out of the house 
as contentedly as the pig in an Irish cabin ; and I could 
contemplate my sheep — or, to speak more correctly, 
Frank's — browsing in the distance. I was occasionally 
obliged to pursue these fugitive animals, whose rapid 
movements would make an English sheep stare. In all 
countries sheep move along as they feed, more rapidly 
than those who have not studied their habits might sup- 
pose, but in South America they become so active from 
being quite unrestrained by hedges, that their usual pace 
is about four miles an hour ; and it can be so rapid when 
anything alarms them, that I well remember once riding 
after a flock of sheep, which went so fast for nearly five 
leagues (sixteen or seventeen miles), that it was all I could 
do to keep up with them at a gallop. Frank's flock were not 
quite so active as this, and I had plenty of horses to pursue 
them with, as Frank possessed a tropilla of sixteen steeds ; 
so we were well mounted. Mingled with the bleating of 
the sheep came the less pleasing hum of insects. A large 
colony of wasps had established themselves at the end of 
our house; and as the wasps in this country are about 
two inches long and sting in proportion, they are by no 



LETTER WRITING. 



19 



means agreeable companions. Ants of a colossal size 
were running over everything ; and spiders, large, hairy, 
and black, about the size of one's hand, might be seen by 
anyone curious in investigating dark corners ; indeed, the 
insects of South America are among its greatest wonders. 
But animal and insect life were the only varieties in the 
monotonous scene before me, and the utter absence of all 
human sounds weighs on one's spirits at first, with the 
feeling of a painful blank. As I took out the letters I 
had to answer, and read all the little particulars of English 
home life, the contrast between the well-remembered 
house and garden that rose up before my imagination, 
and the wide green camp that lay stretched before my 
eyes, was vivid enough to bring with it reflections that 
every Englishman who has been in the same situation 
will well understand. 

I was soon obliged to rouse myself from these senti- 
mental meditations by the necessity of preparing my 
dinner, in case I wished to partake of any food that day. 
Our meals consisted generally of mutton and hard bis- 
cuits, which were washed down by a draught from the 
river. This was occasionally mixed with cana, the chief 
drink of the country. Cana is a kind of white rum made 
in Brazil, and is excessively cheap, too much so, indeed, 
for the good of many of the inhabitants, and it is much to 
be wished that some beverage answering to beer or cider 
could be introduced. The other favourite drink of the 
country, mate, is free from the objections that may be 
raised against cana. It is made from a plant called yerba 
mate, which grows in Paraguay and Brazil, and is, I 
believe (for I have never seen it), a small shrub, the 
leaves and stalks of which are dried and then used much 
in the same manner as tea, being put with boiling water 
into a small pot made out of a gourd ; but, instead of being 
poured into cups when the mate is served, each of the 

c 2 



20 PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



company sucks it up through a reed or silver tube, called 
a bombilla. Milk and sugar are sometimes added, and 
it then becomes a very agreeable beverage. I thought 
mate a very hot and bitter drink at first, but I have now 
become extremely fond of it. 

A short time after this day of solitude Frank and I 
were both invited to help a neighbour part his sheep ; so, 
committing our own flock to the care of a casual assistant, 
we both went over to Mr. C.'s estancia, which was about 
a league from ours. It was a long low house, built of 
bricks and thatched with paja, the same material of which 
our own abode was constructed. Paja is a kind of reed, 
which grows in great abundance by the river. Mr. C. 
had been about sixteen years in the country, and was 
getting on very fairly ; he had begun without any capital, 
and was now the owner of a flock of sheep which in 
England would be considered enormous. These animals 
we now proceeded to part, as it is called, which was a 
work of some difficulty. There are no fences or hedges 
in Entre Bios, so that sheep can only be kept in separate 
flocks in the daytime by some one watching each division 
when they are feeding on the plains. At night they are 
driven into small pens made of posts and wire, and called 
corrals. The shepherd is almost always on horseback by 
clay, as that is the most convenient way of watching his 
restless flock. After our labours were concluded we 
were sumptuously entertained by Mr. C, and introduced 
to his wife and children ; the two youngest boys were 
born in Entre Bios, and had become thorough little 
Gauchos ; though only about ten and twelve, they could 
ride beautifully on almost any horse, and used to climb 
up like monkeys, putting one little bare foot on the 
horse's knee, and then by means of the mane swinging 
themselves up on its back, where they rode without any 
saddle, and sometimes, for a change, with their faces to the 



SANTA BARBARA. 



21 



tail. I made great friends with these young gentlemen, 
and they often paid me visits and bathed with me, being 
as skilful at swimming as at riding. Their education 
was not very advanced in the arts of civilisation, but they 
were very amusing companions. Our life in Entre Bios 
was much of this kind, during the short time I remained at 
Santa Barbara ; it was varied by visits to the neighbours, 
kind hospitalities received from them, and the care of our 
own little property ; but this peaceful sort of life did not 
last long, for, after much discussion of our prospects, 
Frank and I came to the conclusion that we must pitch 
our tent elsewhere. Entre Bios was already over-civilised 
and over-peopled, to suit our ideas. The piece of land 
we now occupied would soon be too small for our increas- 
ing flocks, and no more was to be procured in the neigh- 
bourhood. Two friends of Frank's, who,, like ourselves, had 
come out with the intention of sheep-farming, had begun 
by travelling all over the Argentine Bepublic before 
deciding where they could commence operations with the 
best prospect of success. They had now settled in the 
province of Cordoba, near Frayle Muerto, and their 
report of the country disposed us to follow their example. 



22 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



CHAPTER III. 

SEARCH FOE OTHEE CAMP — EOSAEIO — THE DILIGENCE — FEATLE 
MTJEETO — FIND FELLOW-COENTRYMEN — EXPLORE THE VACANT 
CAMP — PROVINCE OF CORPORA — RIDE TO THE CITY OF CORDOBA — 
WOODS OF THE COENTRT — NATIVE WAGGONS, ETC. — CORDOBA — THE 
SIERRAS — BET CAMP, AND RETERN TO VIEW IT. 

It was early in May that we started on our expedition of 
discovery. We descended the Uruguay to Buenos Ayres, 
and, after a few days there, started off for Rosario and 
Frayle Muerto. The chief highways of the Plate country 
are the rivers, and we now embarked for Rosario on the 
Parana, the river that bounds the western side of Entre 
Rios. The scenery resembles that of the Uruguay, as we 
were again ascending a stream of about twenty miles in 
breadth, studded with many islands which interrupt the 
view from bank to bank, causing it to present the appear- 
ance of a lake rather than of a river. No great beauty 
enlivens the scene between Buenos Ayres and Rosario, as 
the flattish land on either side the Parana is scantily 
wooded, and no hills occur to vary its monotony. The 
steamers are fairly comfortable, and ply only for pas- 
senger traffic ; heavy goods coming up and down in sail- 
ing vessels. The voyage of two hundred and fifty miles 
was performed in about twenty-four hours, and on landing 
we repaired to the Hotel de Colon. 

The weather was beginning to become wintry, as May 
in the River Plate answers very much to our November. 
I had not had any experience of the height of summer as 



EOSAEIO DE SANTA FE. 



23 



y et, having only arrived in March, when the temperature 
is much the same as that of an English August. We 
spent about a fortnight in Rosario, and made constant 
expeditions to the neighbouring camps, but none of them 
suited our ideas ; there were a good many reasons against 
them, but v the important one was, that so near a large 
town land was too expensive for our finances. 

So we resolved to become the pioneers of civilisation , 
and to go on to Frayle Muerto. Rosario stands on the 
high banks of the river, in the middle of a perfectly flat 
green plain, but the river makes some variety in the view. 
It is a rapidly increasing place, at present containing 
about sixty thousand poople, and, being quite a modern 
town, is much better built than Buenos Ayres, whose 
narrow streets, from the plan on which that town is built, 
cannot possibly be widened. The port of liosario is very 
good, and quite large ships can come close in. This is a 
great advantage to settlers in the province of Cordoba, as 
in this way things can be sent direct by water from Eng- 
land to liosario. There are a great many English settlers 
round Rosario, and a little later than the time of which I 
am now writing, one was always sure, in coming down to 
Rosario, to find some English friends, either at the hotel 
or in the English stores. Rosario will shortly be lighted 
with gas, like any town in the old country. Common oil 
lamps had been introduced for some little time when I was 
first there ; but before that a very primitive sort of light 
was used in the shape of potro oil, that is to say, oil made 
from mares' fat; potro means a colt. There is now a 
railway from Rosario to Cordoba, called the Central Ar- 
gentine, opened as far as Villa Nueva, that is, for about 
two hundred miles, and the whole will soon be finished. 
The flat nature of the country makes it very suitable for 
railways, as scarcely anything in the shape of cuttings or 
embankments are required; tunnels are quite unknown; 



24 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



and the bridges over the rivers are the only part of the 
railways that need any time to make. The railways are 
made entirely by English contractors, and pay everyone 
concerned in them extremely well. A new one from 
Buenos Ayres to Mendoza is talked of, and will in all 
probability be shortly begun, and if it reaches Mendoza 
will no doubt be continued through the Andes to Chili. 
In fact, the River Plate ought to be one of the most flou- 
rishing countries in the world, from its great natural ad- 
vantages of every sort ; and the settlers there would 
appear unable to avoid shortly becoming millionaires. 

As soon as Frank and I had decided that the Rosario 
camps were too expensive for us, we resolved to try those 
round Frayle Muerto, and accordingly took our places 
in the diligence, the railway being then only open for a 
few miles. A diligence is never a very delightful mode 
of travelling ; and the South American diligence is per- 
haps as uncomfortable a conveyance as any known. It 
is pulled along by from six or eight to ten horses, ac- 
cording to the state of the roads ; a man rides on each of 
these animals, which pull from the girths, and proceed at 
full gallop, without the least regard to ruts, biscacha 
holes, &c. The South American roads are not macadam- 
ised, being nothing in fact but a track over the prairie. 
About six unfortunate beings are able to go inside this 
machine, which looks rather like an aged stage-coach, and 
two more can sit in front with the driver. We provided 
ourselves with various necessaries for travelling, among 
which were several pistols, by no means the least impor- 
tant part of the outfit. We left Rosario early one morn- 
ing, and reached Frayle Muerto on the evening of 
the second day ; staying by the way at a small post- 
house. The diligence changes horses about every four 
leagues. The accommodations at the post-houses are not 
very splendid, the beds consisting of our own rugs on the 



ARRIVE AT FEAYLE MUEETO. 



25 



floor ; and our dinner or supper was usually walking hap- 
pily about when we arrived, and not therefore remark- 
ably tender when it appeared on the table. The country 
through which we passed was, as usual, perfectly flat, 
with only a few occasional bushes or a rancho, that is to 
say, a mud hut, to be seen; a few deer and ostriches 
sometimes appeared, but the most frequent objects were 
the large hawks called coranchos, which were generally 
engaged in picking the bones of some dead animal ; they 
are much hated by the sheep farmer, as they take every 
opportunity of killing his young lambs, by picking out their 
eyes. As we got near Frayle Muerto some of the pas- 
sengers began to exhibit signs of uneasiness about the 
Indians ; and the agreeable idea dawned upon us, that the 
inhabitants of this part of the country live in the same sort 
of general expectation of a sudden attack from those de- 
lightful neighbours, as the visitors round Vesuvius do of 
an eruption from the burning mountain; and, though I did 
not believe it at the time, I must say that experience has 
taught [me that their fears are by no means unfounded. 
We were e quitte pour la peur,' however, on this occasion, 
but did not get to Frayle Muerto till it was too dark to 
see what the place was like. The proper name is San 
Geronimo, but it is always called Frayle Muerto, which 
means the 'Dead Friar,' from a tradition of some priest 
having been murdered there. We slept at the post-house 
in the usual uncomfortable way, and the next morning, 
finding there was no breakfast to be had, we went out in 
search of some, and. bought some bread and sardines, 
which we ate by the river side. After this frugal meal 
we strolled about the town a little ; it was a poor place, 
very few decent houses, and most of the streets composed 
of mud ranchos. Our first object was to get some horses ; 
and while walking about in rather a forlorn way we sud- 
denly met two Scotchmen, who had just settled about four 



26 



PIONEEBING IN THE PAMPAS. 



leagues out of the town. They gave us a kind welcome 
to Frayle Muerto, and assisted us in getting two horses 
to ride out with them to their estancia, which was only 
three miles from the house of the friends Frank had come 
up to see. 

We got out to Arbol Chato about dark, and found the 
house consisted of only one room, as B., the owner of the 
place, had been there but a short time ; the kind welcome, 
however, which we received made up for any deficiency 
in the accommodations. B. was a sheep farmer like 
everyone else, and a long talk after dinner about the 
prospects of the country and the camps near Frayle 
Muerto encouraged us to think we had found the right 
spot to settle in. 

Next morning we rode over to Los Algarobitas, where 
Frank's friends were settled. Their accommodation was 
much the same as B.'s — one small room with a ditch 
round it, as a defence against the much-dreaded Indians ; 
but at that time none of us at all believed in the danger. 
P., K.j and P. were all Scotchmen, and had only been a 
few months in this part of the country, of which they also 
thought very well. We stayed with them about a week, 
during which time Frank and I, with two of our friends, 
accompanied by a native acting as vaqueano, or guide, 
made a small expedition to the south, to look at the camps 
there. As we went over a large district of land we were 
forced to camp out at night, and found for the first even- 
ing a pleasant spot under some trees, where we settled 
ourselves pretty comfortably. We fell in with some wild 
cattle, one of which we killed for our evening repast. 
There are a good many of these sort of wandering animals 
about, which have been carried off by the Indians and then 
escaped, and of course anyone who can catch them is free 
to do so. The vaqueano effected this with a lasso, and 
we then shot our prisoner and proceeded to skin him ; 



POSITION" OF THE PROVINCE OF CORDOBA. 27 

and after a delicious supper followed by some pipes, we 
retired to our rugs, and slept very soundly rolled up in 
them ; though I woke in rather a freezing condition, as 
long wet boots are not very agreeable to sleep in on a 
winter's night. 

The province of Cordoba in which we now were is one 
of the largest in the Republic, and runs down to the 
south-east to the province of Buenos Ay res, touching the 
provinces of San Louis and San Juan to the west. The 
southern part of Cordoba forms therefore part of the 
frontier of the Republic. My readers must excuse these 
geographical disquisitions ; but since my return to Eng- 
land 1 have been led to think that South American 
geography is not much understood by those who have no 
reason for taking a personal interest in the subject; 
indeed, various intelligent people with whom I have con- 
versed evidently overlook the existence of two continents 
in the New World altogether, and consider me to be 
residing in a remote part of the Southern States, for I 
am constantly asked how the civil w T ar has affected me. I 
hope therefore that, with the help of an ordinary map of 
South America, to which I must refer my readers, I have 
made my position tolerably clear to them, and that they 
understand we were now in the south-eastern part of the 
province of Cordoba, and about twenty leagues from the 
frontier, which is supposed to divide the Republic from 
the Indian territory. There are a few forts scattered 
along the boundary, but at present they are scarcely of 
any use in keeping out the Indians. The whole of the 
country we were now exploring was to the south of Frayle 
Muerto, and quite uninhabited, and stretched down to a 
region as little known as the desert of Sahara. The 
province of Cordoba has long been terribly exposed to 
Indian incursions, but just round Rosario the settlers are, 
comparatively speaking, safe ; and I hope in time, as they 



28 PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 

become more inhabited, the camps round Frayle Muerto 
will be equally free from these invaders. I ought, perhaps, 
just to explain here the word e camp,' which I have so 
often used ; it simply means 6 the country,' as distin- 
guished from ( the town,' and is the abbreviation of the 
Spanish word campo ; and when one talks of being out 
in the camp it answers a good deal to the Australian 
expression of ( out in the bush.' The Frayle Muerto 
camps are well watered, and the pasture is excellent for 
cattle, especially that part of the land which runs down 
to the river Saladillo, which rises some forty leagues from 
Frayle Muerto, and runs into the Rio Tercero close to a 
small village from which it takes the name of Saladillo. 
All the land round Frayle Muerto is marked out by the 
Government of the province of Cordoba into lots of from 
two to four square leagues in extent, and is sold by 
auction in Cordoba. A square league contains rather 
over six thousand acres to one lot or 6 suerte ' as it is 
called, and makes a very fair-sized run. As an auction 
was just advertised to come off, and some of the land on 
the southern bank of the Saladillo, and distant about 
eleven leagues from Frayle Muerto, was to be put up for 
sale, we determined to start for Cordoba, and, if it went 
at a reasonable price, to become the purchasers of this 
suerte, as of course it is a great object to be near perma- 
nent water. 

We accordingly bade good-bye to our friends, and 
started for Cordoba on horseback, preferring even the 
post-horses, bad as they were, to the still more uncom- 
fortable diligence. This mode of travelling is cheaper 
than by diligence, costing only about a penny a mile ; 
and as we rode behind the diligence we always found 
horses ready whenever we got to a post-house. The con- 
ductor of the diligence was the same with whom we had. 
come up from Rosario to Frayle Muerto, and as he very 



WOODS OF THE COUNTRY. 



29 



civilly offered to take our saddle-bags and rugs, our horses 
were not encumbered with any extra weight. Our road 
from Frayle Muerto to Cordoba lay nearly the whole of 
the way through wood, or monte, as it is there called, and 
was certainly more picturesque than the parts between 
Bosario and Frayle Muerto. The trees that enclose the 
road are chiefly algaroba, chanar, espinilla, and tala, all 
thorny, and none of them growing to a great height. 
The algaroba is a very hard wood, and makes capital 
posts and firewood, being very easily split, and it has 
rather a pleasant smell when cut open. It is a sort of 
reddish colour inside, a little like cedar, and has a pretty 
grain when polished, and makes very nice furniture. The 
leaf is long and feathery, and it bears every third year a 
yellow fruit like a long beanpod in shape, with very hard 
seeds inside. The pod has a very pleasant sweet taste, 
and horses and cattle are exceedingly fond of it. 

The chanar has a smooth yellow bark and very pretty 
yellow flower, with a little fruit something like a medlar 
in taste. The wood is exceedingly tough, and very useful 
for axe-handles, shafts, &c. These, with the quebracho, 
of which there are two or three sorts, and the nandubay, 
which grows in great abundance in Entre Rios and parts 
of Santa Fe, are the chief woods of the country. The 
nandubay is very hard, and will last in the ground for an 
almost endless time, as there are corrals standing that are 
known to be more than a hundred years old made of 
nandubay posts. The quebracho Colorado, which grows 
in great abundance beyond Cordoba, is very useful for 
making the heavy native bullock-carts, which are very 
clumsy affairs. They are made without any iron at all, 
and are covered with a sort of little hut, called a tolda, 
made of bent sticks thatched and covered at the top with 
hides stretched over them. The whole of the produce 
of the upper provinces is brought down either in these 



3a 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



conveyances or on the backs of mules ; and it is very curi- 
ous at first to see the long strings of these carts creeping 
slowly along with six bullocks to each, with their wheels 
creaking so fearfully that they can be heard a very long 
way off, for the natives think that the creaking of the 
wheels makes the bullocks go better, and so never take 
the trouble to grease them. Driving a bullock-cart seems 
to suit the natives capitally, as they can sit quietly in the 
cart, and smoke their endless cigarettes, and shout at the 
bullocks to their hearts' content. Some of the journeys 
must be rather tedious, I should think, as they sometimes 
last for more than three months. 

The ore from the mines of San Juan is chiefiv brought 
down on the backs of mules, large troops of which may 
constantly be seen passing through Frayle Muerto. They 
carry a tremendous weight on their backs, and bring down, 
besides the silver and copper ore, large boxes of raisins, 
barrels of sugar, dried fruit, and rolls of tobacco, and 
carry up, on their return journey, flour, yerba, &c. They 
always follow a bell-mare, which is led by a man in ad- 
vance, and the drivers bring up the rear ; rough-looking 
fellows in thick ponchos, and always wearing immense 
iron spurs, weighing perhaps a couple of pounds each. 
But to return to our journey. We had to cross the Rio 
Tercero at Villa Nueva, a small town about seventeen 
leagues from Frayle Muerto, and thirty-three from Cor- 
doba. It was then a poor place, but since the railway 
has reached it it has greatly increased, and will some 
day probably become rather important. The road from 
Frayle Muerto to Villa Nueva is very pretty in places, 
as one can here and there catch a glimpse of the Rio 
Tercero, with its high banks covered with weeping wil- 
lows and dense wood filled with creepers ; and to make a 
progress through these woods, except where there is a 
road, is extremely laborious. The Rio Segundo, which 



CORDOBA. 



31 



we crossed about eight leagues from Cordoba, is very 
much of the same nature as the Tercero, with high banks 
and sandy bottom, generally very shallow, but after heavy 
rains becoming a perfect torrent, filled up to the top of 
the banks eighteen and twenty feet in depth, carrying 
large trees along with the current. This river is the 
chief obstacle on the Central Argentine Railway, but the 
bridge across it, about eleven hundred feet in length, has 
been successfully accomplished. 

We passed two nights at post-houses between Frayle 
Muerto and Cordoba, and reached that town on the morn- 
ing of the second day. The sierras of Cordoba can be 
seen for a very long distance, and look very refreshing 
after so much flat country. Approaching Cordoba, one 
travels through several miles of thick wood ; and nothing 
can be seen of the town until you come right above it, as 
it lies down in a sort of hole with hills on all sides- The 
view as one comes down into the town is really very 
pretty, as there are some very fine buildings in Cordoba, 
and several churches, besides the cathedral, and a large 
Jesuit college, to which the Jesuits have now returned ; 
for at one time nearly all the town and most of the land 
around belonged to them ; but they were all turned out, 
and have only been allowed to come back within the last 
few years. We had a letter of introduction to Mr. T., 
almost the only Englishman at that time in Cordoba, and 
we luckily fell in with him directly we arrived, as he had 
come to hear the news by the diligence. He advised us 
to stay at the Hotel de Paris, kept by a Frenchman and 
his wife, where we were very comfortable. This hotel 
looks out into the large Plaza, which used to be very gay 
in the evenings, as the people came and walked there to 
hear the band play. 

Mr. T. kindly told us everything he could about the 
sales of land, one of which was coming off two days after 



32 



PIONEEKDsG IN THE PAMPAS. 



our arrival. He also told us of what sounded a good 
speculation, namely, a place that was to be sold in the 
sierra about ten leagues from Cordoba, where cattle 
might be fed for the market. There are some very fine 
old places in the sierras, most of which have belonged to 
the Jesuits, but they have fallen a great deal out of 
repair, and one of these was now for sale. T. wished to 
buy it, but had not quite capital enough ; and so asked 
us if we felt inclined to join him in the speculation. 
Frank accordingly determined to ride out and see this 
place, while I remained in Cordoba for the sale, meaning 
to purchase the piece of land on the banks of the Sala- 
dillo if it did not fetch a very high price. T. came with 
me on the morning of the sale, which took place just in 
front of the cabildo or sort of justice hall of the town. 
Two or three other lots were put up before ours, which 
were knocked down without much opposition, as there 
were very few bidders ; and we got ours, four square 
leagues in quantity, at about sixpence an acre, which we 
could hardly consider very dear. 

Frank returned from his expedition in a day or two, 
veiy much struck with the beauty of the sierras, but he 
did not consider it worth our while to think further of the 
place that he had been to see. It was a very pretty pic- 
turesque spot, and the buildings of stone (of which there 
is plenty to be got up in the sierras, although there is not 
a vestige of one in the pampas) had once been very good, 
but had fallen so out of repair that it would have involved 
a considerable outlay to make them habitable. There 
was an old chapel built by the Jesuits, but now used as a 
shed, and the fences of the orchards and paddocks of 
alfalfa or lucerne wanted a great deal doing to them to 
make them good. The great advantage in the place was 
a charming stream, which was never dry ; and if we had 
taken the place, our business would have been to grow 



THE SIERRAS. 



33 



alfalfa to fatten cattle for the Cordoba market. All the 
alfalfa and other crops round the town are irrigated by 
streams from the sierras, as in the winter it never rains in 
Cordoba ; and so, if it were not for the irrigation, the 
cattle would all die. The feeding business is therefore 
profitable; as fat animals for the market, which in the 
summer are worth perhaps 20 Bolivian dollars (about 37.), 
are in the winter worth 10/., and sometimes 12/. How- 
ever, we considered that as so much would have to be 
done to the place in the way of repairing the buildings, 
making new fences, and putting the channels for irrigating 
the alfalfa to rights, we had better give up that idea and 
try our luck in the Pampas in our newly-bought land. 

We accordingly left Cordoba and rode down again 
to Frayle Muerto, where we spent a few days with our 
kind friends at the Algarobitas : and while there we rode 
out to inspect our new property, which as yet we had 
not actually visited. A German, who imagined he knew 
these parts, offered to act as guide, but the day being 
misty and our leader's ideas of the way extremely vague, 
we wandered about for a long time, and finding we could 
not hit off the right place that day, we passed the night 
Under the shelter of some small bushes. By the next 
morning the fog had cleared off, and about the middle of 
the day we reached the Saladillo, the boundary on one 
side of our property. Our estate was on the opposite 
side of the river from the Algarobitas, from which it was 
really only twenty miles distant, but we found, to our 
chagrin, on reaching the bank, that the river was too much 
swollen by the rains for us to attempt crossing on horse- 
back ; and as the weather was much too cool for swimming 
to be pleasant, we could only contemplate our future para- 
dise from the opposite shore, our minds clearly opening 
to the agreeable fact that we were destined to be the first 
English residents between (this part of) the Saladillo and 

D 



34 



PIONEEKING IN THE PAMPAS. 



Patagonia, or I might say, Cape Horn. Pondering these 
things, and admiring the arrangements of fortune, we 
were pleased at perceiving that the river was covered 
with water-fowl of all descriptions — swans, geese, ducks, 
flamingoes, stork, &c, which gave hopes of abundant 
future dinners to the new lords of the soil. We remarked 
also, with some joy, two or three trees in the distance on 
our estate, which was of course as flat as all the rest of 
the country ; it looked very green and fertile, however, 
and the herbage close to the river was a sort of rich 
clover, which promised well for pasture. When we had 
looked as long as we cared, we rode off, and after more 
wandering about, and a very cold night out of doors, as 
it was freezing hard, we returned to the Algarobitas. 



35 



CHAPTER IV. 

PEEP A EE TO SETTLE ON OUE CAMP — CASA DE EIEEEO — JOURNEY 
EEOM EOSAEIO — EECETJITS — OTJE PIEST MEAL ON OTTE OWN ESTATE 
— WELL-DIGGING — DOMESTIC AEEANGEMENTS — COEEALS— MOEALS 
OF NATIVE SEEVANTS — OTJE PIEST CHEISTMAS IN THE CAMP — 
ENDEAVOUE TO PURCHASE SHEEP. 

We now set seriously to work to conclude the purchase 
of our land, having quite determined to settle near Frayle 
Muerto. The possibility of Indian depredations was the 
only drawback ; but these were represented to us by the 
people in authority, both at Eosario and Cordoba, as a 
trifling risk. We were about three hundred miles from 
the Indian settlements, and were told that they had the 
greatest dread of fire-arms, and never would dream of 
attacking well-armed Englishmen in a properly-built 
house, but merely scoured the country at one time of year 
in quest of any stray horses and cattle they could pick 
up ; sheep they were said never to touch, as they could 
not drive them fast enough to keep up with their own 
rapid pace ; in short, they were represented to us more 
as the kind of pest gipsies might be in a lonely English 
neighbourhood than as a serious danger ; and it was 
under this belief that we bought our land and determined 
to settle so far south. We also expected fully, at this 
time, that the land around us would have been quickly 
bought up, and that the Government would protect us ; 
the Paraguayan war, and a v ery sad event which I shall 
relate by and by, were the two things most against us, 

D 2 



36 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



and but for these unforeseen hindrances, I am convinced 
our choice of land would have proved already, as I hope it 
will eventually prove, a wise one. 

There was at this time no bank in Cordoba, so I was 
forced to journey down to Buenos Ayres in search of our 
money, which I then took up to Cordoba, intending to 
return with my title-deeds ; but lawyers are as slow at 
their work here as in any other part of the world, and, 
after waiting some time, I was at last obliged to come 
away without the deeds, my friend T. undertaking to 
send them down to us. Frank in the meantime went off 
to Entre Bios to collect our scattered goods. We next 
met in Bosario, when I found that he had made an im- 
portant purchase in Buenos Ayres, which was neither 
more nor less than a small iron dwelling-house. He had 
come across an energetic speculator, who had just imported 
several of these articles of different sizes acd prices. Ours 
cost about 801., and though not the most comfortable 
residence in the world — as every change in the weather, 
either of heat or cold, was instantly felt, until we might 
almost as well have been thermometers — it was, on the 
whole, very useful. It excited a great sensation in Frayle 
Muerto, where we were known as c the owners of the 
iron house,' and regarded with great respect; and as 
one of us passed in the street the enquiry as to who we 
were was usually answered, ( El duetio de la casa de 
fierro ; ' to which the admiring populace would reply, 
( que hombre.' 

During our short stay in Bosario we fell in with three 
young Englishmen, who became afterwards some of our 
greatest friends ; two of them, indeed, who were brothers, 
Charlie and Gerald T., lived with us for many months, 
and bought the land adjoining ours. The other, K., 
purchased land nearer to Bosario, in the province of 
Santa Fe, and was soon joined there by two brother 



AYE MEET SOME FRIENDS. 



37 



officers ; and their estancia of Las Kosas is now about the 
best in that province, and well known to all their friends for 
its pleasant hospitality. We afterwards became very well 
acquainted with K., but did not see much more of him at 
this time, as he determined to remain near Rosario ; while 
the T.s, who had been travelling for about a year in 
search of a spot to settle in, having found nothing yet 
that they liked, resolved, on hearing of our new purchase 
and determination to settle in an untried region, to 
accompany us, and see whether our part of the country 
might not also suit their ideas. My spirits were much 
raised by meeting with the T.s, one of whom I had 
slightly known in England. Both brothers had been in 
the army, but had sold out on hearing of the rapid fortunes 
which might be amassed in South America. We resolved 
at once to go to our property, and commence our great 
start in life ; and, therefore, set to work to collect house- 
hold goods. We procured pots and pans and other 
domestic articles, purchased a cart and ten horses, a small 
tent and numerous stores, and started off, riding and 
driving. The party consisted of Frank and myself, 
Charlie and Gerald T., and an Englishman, called Henry, 
whom he had hired to cook for us. He was a clever 
man, who had seen better days, and might have done well 
if he had been less fond of roving about ; he had travelled 
in India, and been lately in Brazil, engaged in making one 
of the railways there ; originally, I believe, he had been 
in the English navy. He was a most excellent cook, and 
a very useful assistant from his travelling experiences, 
and used to light our fires, pitch the tent, and make 
everything comfortable for us at night, while we were 
doing the same good offices for our horses. 

We guided our course by the line of railway, which 
was marked out for about sixty miles, and then struck 
into the posting track. We took about ten days on this 



38 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



expedition, pasture being scarce and the water very salt 
and bad, so that our horses could not travel very fast. 
We reached the Rio Carcaranal on the third day, and 
found there was no way of crossing the river except by 
a ford, near which a railway-bridge was being constructed. 
The water was rather deep and muddy, and about the 
middle of the river our heavily-laden cart stuck fast, and 
refused to move. There was a railway encampment ©n 
the other side, and about one hundred natives who were 
employed on the railway collected on the half-finished 
bridge, and jeered at our misfortune. We toiled at our 
unfortunate cart, endeavouring to drag it out with lassos, 
with feelings of rage at the amused spectators ; but we 
were at length reduced to hiring four or five of them, who 
at last succeeded in dragging our property ashore. We 
found some English engineers at the encampment, and 
were hospitably entertained by them. No other event 
occurred worth recording, and we reached Frayle Muerto 
safely, and encamped in the wood near it, in a very 
pleasant spot close to the river, where we rested ourselves 
and our horses, passing our time in shooting and bathing, 
and otherwise enjoying ourselves. 

After two days' rest the caravan moved on, our train 
being augmented by two new followers : one was an Irish- 
man, named Jack, who was engaged to dig our well, and 
the large ditch supposed to be necessary for a defence ; 
the other was a native, named Lisada, rather clever, but 
not bearing a high character, and who preferred racing 
and gambling to manual labour. Our reason for engag- 
ing him, notwithstanding these defects, was a very simple 
one, viz. that he was almost the only native who had the 
courage to come so far south with us, the Gauchos being 
all terribly afraid of the Indians. Jack also was willing 
to risk it ; and we started with these valiant companions, 



CROSSING THE SALADILLO. 



39 



having engaged to pay Lisada about 21. a month, and to 
keep him besides. 

Jack was paid for his work in the same sort of propor- 
tion. Wages are enormously high, and one of the great 
drains on the settler's purse. Lisada, to do him justice, 
was fairly brave, but Jack's courage did not prove of a 
high order. We slept two nights on our way, and reached 
the banks of the Saladillo on the evening of the 7th of 
October. The next morning — after sticking once or twice 
in the river and various other little accidents, such as 
Lisada's girths breaking, when he fell into the water and 
was fished out, amid shouts of laughter — we all reached 
the opposite bank, and stood upon our own property. 
The river was rather low upon this occasion, being only 
about two hundred and forty feet across, but when well 
filled it is about three or four hundred yards in width. 
The banks are very low, and a great part of the stream 
is shallow, but in the middle of the river the horses 
generally have to swim about fifty or sixty yards ; we 
were very lucky in finding the river so low, as we were 
able to get our cart across. The passage being effected, 
we rode up to look at the trees, which were about a mile 
from the river, and as we approached them a small lion- 
cub rushed out from some low bushes near. He was 
soon caught by the dogs, and, having been killed, we 
thought, as we were very short of meat, we would try 
how he tasted ; and, having roasted him in his skin — a 
favourite mode of cooking in South America, called 
6 carne con cuero ' — we breakfasted on lion for the first 
time, and found it very good. 

Lisada told us that the small group of quebracho trees 
under which we were now standing was a sort of land- 
mark to travellers in the camp, and known as Monte 
Molino, so we resolved to call our estancia by that name. 



40 



PIONEEKING IN THE PAMPAS. 



After breakfast, as we were prowling about our new 
domain, the dogs suddenly became again extremely excited, 
and the cause of their agitation was soon apparent, as a 
large lioness rushed out of the bushes, and took shelter 
under a thick tree with branches down to the ground. 
The dogs were afraid to attack her, and several revolver 
shots having been fired without much effect, I ran to the 
encampment for my rifle, and putting a bullet through 
her head the engagement was soon ended. We kept the 
skin as a trophy of our exploit. The other cub emerged 
from a hole some days after, looking very thin and 
wretched, and Avas killed by the dogs. 

We soon decided that our house should be built among 
the trees ; and having pitched our little tent there, pro- 
ceeded to make ourselves as comfortable as circumstances 
would allow. 

Jack began his labours on the well, selecting a spot 
close to the house which he thought promising. We had 
brought a large hide bucket and pulley, with which we 
dragged the earth out, working it by a horse. After five 
days' hard digging we came to water at the depth of about 
thirty feet. At the cry of 6 agua' we all rushed up in a 
state of delight, and found our labours were rewarded by 
an abundant supply of water, so extremely salt that it was 
almost impossible to drink it, and for the short time we 
were obliged to do so it made us quite ill. We were 
obliged to begin a new well nearly a mile from the house, 
and chose a spot in a hollow near a small laguna. This 
second well turned out very drinkable, though, of course, 
the necessity of bringing up water from a mile off every 
day was an immense trouble. 

The water in wells on the higher ground is, as a rule, 
almost always salt, while down in the little valleys the 
supply of water is generally good. The salt comes, I 
believe, from the great quantity of saltpetre in the soil 



HORSE IN A WELL. 



41 



through which the water drains, the wells being of course 
supplied not from real springs but from land-soaks. Why 
there is less salt on the lower ground I am not enough 
of a geologist to say, but all the water in the Pampas is 
slightly impregnated with it, and would, I think, always 
taste slightly brackish to a new comer, though to us our 
second well appeared very fresh and good. The mouth 
of a well which has been used for some time always looks 
white, from the salt which has been left there from the 
water spilt on the ground, and when our river was low 
the banks looked as if covered with a slight fall of snow. 

Our first well was rather a nuisance, as we were too - 
busy or too lazy to fill it up for some time, and a pitfall 
close to your house, some six feet across and thirty feet 
deep, is rather inconvenient. Some unlucky stray animals 
went down it once or twice ; one of our horses fell into it 
on one occasion, and as all our lassos were away, the 
bullock-carts being sent for something to a distance, he 
was forced to remain two or three days at the bottom of 
the well before we could drag him out. We threw him 
down grass, and, like poor ' Ophelia,' he had 6 too much 
of water,' though he did not share her fate, as he was 
drawn up triumphantly, still living ; but after about three 
days he died. He must have had a very unpleasant time 
of it, poor fellow, as his tail was quite full of frogs. 

After two or three days of well-digging Frank and the 
two T.s started off on horseback for Kosario, Frank in- 
tending to meet his youngest brother, who had just come 
out from England to join us, and at the same time to 
bring up our property, including the iron house, in our 
bullock-waggons. 

We were much delighted at the two T.s having decided 
to purchase the next piece of land to ours, to which they 
at once took a fancy ; the prospect of being such near 
neighbours was very pleasant to us all, and the reality 



42 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



was, if possible, still more pleasant as long as it lasted, 
which, to our mutual regret, was not so long as we had 
hoped. The two brothers went off -now to Cordoba to 
arrange the purchase and collect their various possessions, 
while I was left with my three companions, Henry, Jack, 
and Lisada, to complete the well and begin our ditch. 

In order to keep up discipline in the establishment I 
slept in the tent, while my domestics bivouacked outside, 
Henry making himself very comfortable in a hammock in 
one of the quebracho trees, Lisada and Jack on the ground 
beneath him. We kept no watch at night, and took our 
chance of Indians. We depended on our guns and dogs 
for our dinner, and once or twice captured a stray cow. 
The men worked well, and we had traced out the ditch, 
which enclosed a space of fifty yards square, and was in- 
tended to be about six feet deep and six broad, when, 
after ten days' absence, I was very glad to welcome Frank 
and his young brother. They had ridden up from Rosario, 
and came out from the village of Saladillo in pouring rain, 
which was so violent that they found us all huddled into 
the tent, as the only place of shelter. It was rather a 
dismal welcome for Gk, who had come out from England 
on the strength of descriptions sent home of the delights 
of life in the Pampas, and he looked a little blank at the 
first sight of his future habitation. A good dinner of wild 
ducks was prepared in honour of his arrival, and when 
this had been discussed he took a more cheerful view of 
his prospects. 

Frank had seen our goods off from Kosario before he 
left it himself, and about two days after his arrival we 
beheld a joyful sight in the shape of the bullock-carts 
slowly approaching. They of course all stuck fast in the 
river, and were only rescued after several hours' severe 
work ; but we got everything safely up to the encamp- 
ment that night, and next morning began to put up our 



ERECT OUR IRON HOUSE. 



43 



house. It was a delightful moment when this was con- 
cluded after two days' hard work, and we had again a roof 
over our heads of something thicker than canvas. We 
had two rooms in our iron dwelling, each twelve feet square, 
and had brought up some stools and tables to furnish 
them with ; these, with our beds, washing-stands, two 
chests of drawers, and an arm-chair, gave the place a very 
comfortable look ; and with some boards which we had 
brought up from Rosario we soon knocked up a small 
kitchen at one end of the house, where Henry began his 
culinary operations. 

The feelings of civilised life so far prevailed in the 
camp that our domestic arrangements led to the first un- 
pleasantness in our little colony. Henry, after waiting 
on us, was in the habit of taking his own meals quietly 
at a side table in the house when we had finished, first 
supplying Jack and Lisada, who were not invited to join 
us in our repast, with their rations in the tent, where all 
the servants now slept. Jack's dignity was unable to 
stand this supposed slight, and he accordingly left us, in 
spite of all we could say to mollify him, assigning this as 
the reason of his departure. Lisada, whose feelings 
were less sensitive, was then left to his solitary meals, 
and his appetite seemed no way affected by his com- 
panion's departure. Jack reappeared in the camp some 
time after, working for a neighbour, but took flight at 
a sudden alarm of Indians ; and I am inclined to think 
his dread of them was the real cause of his leaving us 
so quickly. The ditch came to a stand-still for some 
time after he went, as we had so many other things to 
attend to. 

We began making corrals for our horses and to contain 
our future sheep. Our land was extremely suitable for 
cattle, from the abundant supply of water always at hand, 
but we were advised not to keep any number at present, 



44 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



as they were so great an attraction to the Indians, who, 
as I before said, do not come for sheep, and were there- 
fore unlikely to molest us if we had no cattle to tempt 
them. 

The corrals (or in English, the farmyard) were on one 
side of our ditch; on the other we began to en close a small 
garden for vegetables ; flowers we had no time to attend 
to at present. 

After a few weeks our settlement began to look rather 
comfortable, and we thought a few milking cows would be 
a desirable addition. Lisada assured us we might get some 
at Saladillo, and he and I accordingly set off one day, in- 
tending to purchase a few. Saladillo was about fifteen 
miles off to the north-east of us, and consisted of about 
twenty mud huts, inhabited only by natives. There was 
a post-house in the place, where the diligence left our 
letters, and our first business was always an eager enquiry 
as to whether there were any for us. 

While waiting outside the pulperia I saw in the dis- 
tance three figures on horseback, in broad-brimmed straw 
hats, riding towards us down the long, hot, dusty road ; 
and, as they came near, was delighted to see they con- 
sisted of the T.s, accompanied by their soldier servant, 
who had been with Charlie in his old regiment, and in- 
sisted on following his young master to the New World. 
After a warm greeting I found they had just ridden from 
Kosario, and were en route for Cordoba, but intended to 
stay a few days at Monte Molino. As soon as Lisada 
and I had concluded our purchase, which consisted of four 
cows, for which we paid about 21. each, we all rode back 
together. 

We had been delayed some time by one thing and 
another, the T.s having to procure fresh horses, &c, and 
at last it became so late that Charlie and Gerald rode on, 
leaving Lisada and myself to drive the cows; and though 



BENIGHTED IN THE CAMP. 



45 



these animals, like the sheep, get more rapidly over the 
ground in the River Plate than they do in England, we 
could not consider it desirable to urge milking cows out 
of a slow trot. After a little time we were left in com- 
plete darkness, and Lisada's horse became too tired to 
move a step farther. He was obliged, therefore, to un- 
saddle him, and leave both horse and saddle for the night, 
marking the place where he left the latter by burning a 
little grass round it. He then mounted behind me, and 
in this affectionate manner we got safely to our home, 
which could be seen for some miles across the dead flat of 
the country. Lisada, like all the natives, was very super- 
stitious, and much afraid of darkness, and cheered me by 
various gloomy tales of horrors as we rode along. As we 
passed a place called, from some unpleasant association or 
other, e Monte del Diablo,' he said in a low voice, 'Lugar 
de mal nombre' (that is, a place of the bad name), for, like 
the old Greeks or Romans, the natives consider it un- 
lucky to allude more particularly to any subject of evil 
omen. 

The T.s stayed with us some days and then went off 
to Cordoba, leaving their servant with us. Their arrival 
was a break in our monotonous life, and cheered us all up. 
G. had now become tolerably resigned to camp life, but 
certainly did not take to it warmly at first. He disliked 
the natives extremely, and on a first acquaintance they 
certainly are not fascinating to an Englishman, though 
often handsome, and with graceful, dignified manners, 
which appear to belong to them naturally. The lowest 
Gaucho has a wonderful advantage over the most respect- 
able English labourer in manner and address, and will 
take off his hat and begin a conversation with you as 
politely as the most finished don, and use words and 
phrases such as no uneducated countryman of my own 
would dream of employing ; but when one comes to 



46 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



essentials, I fear their moral and religious character is 
rather below that of an average ticket-of-leave man. It is 
very melancholy to come to such a conclusion about the 
people among whom one lives, but it seemed to me as if 
no kindness or confidence could excite any return of 
grateful feeling, and the utter want of morality is enough 
to call down a curse on any nation. The passing traveller 
who describes 6 The noble Gaucho,' &c, does not easily 
see this ; their courteous manners concealing their real 
character during a short acquaintance. 

One's idea of how great a nation the Spaniards must 
have been is much raised by seeing how long their de- 
scendants have kept the impress of their refinement and 
self-controlled manners amid such different scenes ; but 
the Church of Rome certainly appears to very little ad- 
vantage in a country where she has long held such sove- 
reign sway ; and missionaries might indeed do a good 
work among these so-called Christians. I must own that 
we were not particularly fortunate in the specimens we 
came across, our household being rather like King David's 
army, to which c every man who was broken or had run 
away from his master joined himself,' as we were supposed 
to be beyond the reach of all law or order, and our 
capataz Lisada — a handsome, clever man, to whom we at 
first took a great fancy — was celebrated at Frayle Muerto 
as being the very worst character in the whole country. 
He professed a great regard for us always, but cheated 
us, I believe, on every possible occasion, and did no work 
he could possibly avoid. His redeeming point was his 
courage, and perhaps, in his own peculiar way, he may 
have had a liking for us. He was soon joined by his wife 
and two children, who were used to a wild neighbourhood, 
Lisada having on one occasion defended them successfully 
in a mud rancho from a sudden attack of Indians, with 
no better weapon than an old horse-pistol, the unfortu- 



WE GO IN SEAECII OF SHEEP. 



47 



nate woman concealing herself behind the door with her 
baby in her arms, holding her hand on its mouth lest its 
screams should betray her presence. We had some 
difficulty in holding communication with them at first, as 
the natives never learn any English ; but we soon picked 
up enough Spanish for the purpose of ordinary life. It 
was now early in December, and we began to consider 
how we could properly celebrate Christmas ; and, as I 
was obliged to go down to Buenos Ayres on business, I 
resolved to make some purchases in honour of the season. 
I ordered materials for a large plum pudding, and various 
other luxuries ; but, unfortunately, none of them arrived 
till about the beginning of January, so we could only 
drink every one's health in England in cana ; and, as the 
thermometer stood at 90° in the shade (rather hot for the 
usual Christmas pleasures), we drove down in our cart to 
the river, and tried to amuse ourselves by fishing and 
talking over old Christmas meetings in Warwickshire, in 
days when we did not expect that fate would ever trans- 
plant us to such different scenes. 

We now began to think seriously of purchasing sheep ; 
and early in the new year I started with Gr. and Lisada 
on an expedition to Sauce, a small town on the frontier, 
in which was one of the forts intended to keep out the 
Indians. We had heard there were some sheep to be sold 
at a place close by, and, as Sauce was about sixty -six miles 
to the south of us, we started early in the morning, and 
reached the estancia late that night. We were hospitably 
received by the capataz and his wife, and found ourselves 
sufficiently improved in Spanish to converse with them on 
the state of the country. They told us an alarming story 
of the late possessor of the estancia Don Yictorino and 
his headman having been killed, in a fight with the Indians 
just outside the house, about a year before, when he and 
the capataz, who stood bravely by his master, had made 



48 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



an attempt to rescue their cattle from these invaders. 
The estancia now belonged to his nephew, who, not un- 
naturally, preferred residing at Cordoba and leaving his 
capataz to manage the property. This was the first 
account of Indian attacks that we had seriously believed, 
and it made us rather grave ; but we consoled ourselves 
by the thought that we were sixty miles farther from the 
frontier, and, therefore, not very likely to attract the notice 
of those marauders. 

We found no sheep were to be had; so — after just 
riding into Sauce and visiting the pulperia, and further 
refreshing ourselves by a bathe, after which we rested 
under the willow grove from which the town is named 
(Sauce meaning a willow) — we rode back to Monte Molino, 
starting just at sunset, and had a lovely ride by moon- 
light, reaching home about four in the morning. 



49 



CHAPTER V. 

LOS INDIOS. 

In the fairy tales that were my delight in earlier days, 
one member of a family after another used to start off in 
quest of anything that was much wanted by his relations, 
such as a purse always full of money, an enchanted sword, 
or some other equally useful article ; and when one failed, 
another instantly went off on the same errand. The 
various expeditions that were made from Monte Molino 
in search of what was required, used often to remind me 
of these tales of my youth ; at least I am sure no hero 
of romance could have gone through more desolate regions 
than those we had to traverse on these occasions: the 
only difference was, that whereas, in the old stories, though 
the first two messengers always failed, the third met with 
equally invariable success, half-a-dozen of our ambas- 
sadors often went one after the other, without bringing 
back what was wanted, especially in later days, when 
something like the inexhaustible purse was wanted from 
Rosario, or something in the line of the enchanted sword, 
from our apathetic Government at Buenos Ayres. 

As I had failed to procure any sheep at Sauce, Frank 
set forth in search of some we had heard of, at a still more 
distant spot, accompanied by M., anew acquaintance, who 
had only just arrived, but who soon bought a large tract 
of land close round Frayle Muerto, and is now one of the 
most enterprising settlers in the country. 



to 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



Another young Englishman, S., had just purchased a 
piece of land only twelve miles from Monte Molino, and 
had now been there a few weeks. Others were heard of as 
likely to follow his example ; and we hoped our country 
would soon be well peopled with English settlers. 

We had engaged two new assistants to finish our ditch ; 
an Irishman, also named Jack, a very good workman 
when sober, but with such a strong tendency to cana that 
we were obliged to withhold it from him by force ; and 
another helper he had brought with him, named Cabrero. 
We kept steadily at work after Frank left us, all through 
March, and having completed the fortification round our 
house, began another ditch round a small quinta in which 
we intended to grow maize, &c. We also set to work to 
cut bricks, which hardened in the sun, and were then used 
to build outhouses for our servants to sleep in, and for 
other purposes. 

Charlie T. had been down once, for a day or two, to 
leave all his newly-bought horses with us, and having 
completed his purchase of land at Cordoba, was gone 
away to Kosario to meet his brother ; both intending 
shortly to join us, and begin building their house. Henry 
had left us some little time back, so our party at Monte 
Molino consisted now of Gr. and myself, and a cousin of 
Charlie T.'s, just come out from England, the T.s' 
servant, and two Englishmen engaged to work for them : 
Jack, Cabrero, Lisada and his wife Salome, with her two 
little children, completed the household, making altogether 
twelve persons, of whom nine were full-grown men. 

Imagine us, then, about sunrise on a certain bright morn- 
ing in April, just sitting down in the house to drink our 
coffee before beginning our work ; the servants busy out- 
side, and the faithful Lisada on the roof of the house, taking 
a bird's-eye view of the landscape, to see in what direction 
the horses had strayed in the night ; driving them in for 



LOS INDIOS. 



51 



use during the day being always his first business. We now 
possessed about one hundred horses, the joint property of 
the T.s and ourselves ; and on this particular morning 
they had strayed about two miles from the house to a 
fertile spot, where they were grazing with great satisfac- 
tion to themselves. We were quietly drinking our coffee 
and chatting together, when our peaceful meal was sud- 
denly interrupted by a loud shout from Lisada, 6 Los 
Indios, caramba.' * At this pleasing intelligence all three 
of us rushed hastily out, and beheld in the distance a 
large body of horsemen advancing towards us at full 
gallop. The troop seemed to consist of two or three 
hundred, but we could not at first make out whether all 
the horses were mounted, as many appeared to us to have 
no riders, but Lisada and Cabrero declared that some of 
the Indians were clinging to the sides of their horses, 
according to their usual fashion when making an attack, 
so as to conceal their true numbers. At any rate, it was 
plain there was no time to be lost in preparing for our 
defence ; so we ran the bullock-waggon into the gateway 
over the ditch, blocking up the passage, and snatched up 
our guns and pistols. I gave each of the men a weapon, 
as we had plenty of arms, took my own gun and revolver, 
and waited for the attack. Poor Salome had rushed into 
the house with her two children and a small trunk, which 
I imagine contained all her valuables, and concealed her- 
self in a dark corner, where, I afterwards found, she kept 
up her spirits during these trying moments by smoking 
cigarettes. 

In about ten minutes from the time of Lisada's shout 
of warning the Indians were within about four hundred 
yards of the house, and we then perceived that the actual 

* Caramba is a common expression of surprise, meaning literally — 
indeed ! 

£ 2 



52 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



number of men with whom we had to deal was about fifty, 
having with them a large troop of unmounted horses. 
These were now halted, and remained under the charge of 
three or four men who detached themselves from the 
main body, the remainder coining on at a hand-gallop 
until they had approached to within about fifty yards of 
the ditch, when they opened out their party, surrounding 
us on all sides, and again halted. I told my men not to 
fire until we were certain that their intentions were hos- 
tile ; so we stood facing them, waiting until they should 
come close up. Lisada now shouted out that if they 
wished to fight we were quite ready to accommodate them, 
at which intimation a short parley took place among the 
Indians, after which three of them rode close up to the 
edge of the ditch, first leaving their long spears stuck in 
the ground, and one who was evidently a Gaucho, acting 
as interpreter, said that the cacique wished to speak with 
the owner of the estancia. 

I therefore put down my gun and revolver, and walked 
forward to the edge of the ditch to meet the cacique and 
his two attendants, having first desired my companions to 
fire at once if they saw any symptoms of treachery. The 
conversation was conducted through the interpreter, as 
the two Indians could only speak a word or two of 
Spanish, and was begun by the cacique expressing a wish 
to come into our house, which polite offer I respectfully 
but firmly declined. He then told us he had lost his way, 
the party having come out on an expedition for hunting 
ostriches, and had not the least wish to injure us, but was, 
on the contrary, extremely anxious for our friendship. 

While this conversation had been going on, the rest of 
the Indians had come up close behind the cacique, 
having also left their spears stuck in the ground ; they 
talked rapidly among themselves, but of course we could 
not understand a word they said, and only two or three 



THE CACIQUE. 



53 



of them appeared to understand any Spanish. They were 
small wiry-looking men, with very black hair falling over 
their shoulders, flat faces with high cheek-bones, and no 
beard or whisker, and dark coppery complexions, with a 
repulsive expression of feature. All were dressed in the 
Gaucho costume as far as they were dressed at all, some 
few possessing decent clothes : one, I remember, wore an 
officer's coat, having probably murdered the unfortunate 
owner; but most of them were without hats, and had only 
a handkerchief tied over their matted locks, and all were 
excessively dirty. 

The cacique, an old man with grey hair, was better 
got-up than the rest, wearing a large gaily-coloured 
poncho. Their arms consisted of spears about twenty feet 
long, many of them ornamented with bunches of feathers 
tied round the handles ; and bolas, which they carried 
either round their waists or attached to the pommel of the 
saddle. 

The conversation continued in the same amicable tone, 
the cacique next mentioning that he was very poor, and 
would be glad if we would give his men some clothes. 
This request I at once complied with, and brought out a 
few old things, presenting him with an old straw hat of 
my own, which he at once placed on his head with evident 
satisfaction. I also gave them some can a and tobacco, 
and Lisada and our other peon, seeing the friendly turn 
affairs had taken, crossed the ditch and handed cigarettes 
to our visitors, conversing with the interpreter, the only 
one of the party who dismounted. Whether this excel- 
lent man had been previously known to our equally re- 
spectable capataz, I cannot say, but they talked to each 
other with great apparent interest. The Gauchos who 
reside with the Tndians have usually committed some 
atrocious crime which places them beyond the pale even 
of Gaucho civilisation. 



54 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



The cacique made repeated declarations that nothing 
should induce him to injure his new and dear friends, or 
tempt him to touch their horses, and as we felt very- 
uneasy lest they should fall in with Frank and his com- 
panions, whom we were every day expecting with the 
sheep, we said something about them, when the obliging 
cacique assured us again that, being friends of ours, they 
need fear nothing from him. 

After staying nearly an hour they all rode slowly off, 
but before they went we crossed the ditch one by one, 
and shook hands with the cacique, who was able to 
say, ( Adios amigo.' We were watching the departure of 
our unexpected and unwelcome visitors with feelings of 
extreme joy, when, to our dismay, we suddenly saw them 
all draw up on the rising ground about a mile from our 
house, when half their party rode towards our horses, and 
in a few minutes they had driven them up to their own 
troop of unmounted horses, and the whole body were off 
like the wind, in a northerly direction. It was impossible 
to pursue them, as we had only three indifferent horses, 
on one of which, however, Lisada galloped after them for 
some little distance, shouting like a madman, but I am 
sure he had not the least intention of overtaking them. 

We could only gaze after our beloved steeds as they 
disappeared from our sight, and use expressions of a 
nature stronger than c caramba.' Lisada exhausted all 
his vocabulary, and for the matter of that so did we ours ; 
but it was all in vain — horses and Indians had vanished 
like a dream. 

After about an hour a few straggled back, and we 
eventually recovered about four or five. As the cacique 
had kindly promised to visit us again on his way back, 
we felt afraid his troop was only a small detachment, 
acting as scouts to a larger body of Indians ; we therefore 
resolved to keep a strict look-out, and be ready to act on 



ON THE WATCH. 



55 



the defensive at a moment's warning. Lisada, who had 
seen the Indians before, assured us that it was only the 
sight of our arms that kept them from attacking us, and 
warned us not to believe a word they had said. We 
remained in a good deal of anxiety lest Frank and his 
party should fall in with them, and feared also, from the 
direction they had taken, they might next visit our new 
neighbour S>, who was much less well provided with men 
and arms than we were ; and this apprehension was much 
increased in the afternoon by the arrival of a native from 
Frayle Muerto, who told us he had seen a large body, of 
what he supposed to be Indians, going towards S.'s house, 
when he made off himself, with the greatest speed, to the 
e casa de fierro.' 

We saw no more, however, of the Indians that day, 
but in the afternoon we perceived something slowly 
crawling across the plain from the direction of Saladillo, 
which soon proved to be the T.s' bullock-carts, laden 
with their wooden house, furniture, &c. — in fact, all their 
property — which had luckily escaped the Indians, who 
had already appropriated all their horses. 

A little later in the day an Englishman, known as 
6 Hairy Jim,' arrived, in search of work ; he, with the 
five men who had come with the bullock-carts, made a 
reinforcement of six to our garrison, and we now felt 
ready to defy any attack, as k Hairy Jim,' so called from 
a long red beard, represented himself as c the bravest of 
the brave,' and described thrilling adventures he had gone 
through with the Indians in the province of Buenos 
Ayres, where he said he had lived for many years. We 
invited this warlike character to remain with us for the 
present, and the T.s afterwards engaged him to work for 
them. 

We kept watch in turns through the night, but had no 
fresh alarm. The next morning, just as we were sitting 



56 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



down to breakfast, we saw five or six men galloping up, 
whom we of course took for Indians, and instantly sprang 
to our arms. But in a moment we saw that it was our 
neighbour S., with four companions, who had come down 
to see if we were still alive. S. then related his own 
interview with the Indians, and told us they had surprised 
him in the middle of the afternoon, just when he and 
two other companions were taking their siesta. A native 
woman, who acted as their cook, was lying asleep outside, 
under the shade of the cart, when she was most un- 
pleasantly roused from her slumbers by seeing an Indian 
on horseback standing over her, telling her to get up be- 
hind him on his horse. She rushed in screaming to her 
master, and soon aroused the party, who came out with their 
arms, and instantly pulled up the board across their ditch. 

The Indians then began to parley as they had done 
with us. S. told us that he had made up his mind that 
it was all over with him, as they were only three men to 
fifty Indians ; and seeing the cacique had got on an old 
broad-brimmed hat which he recognised as mine, and 
recognising also our horses, he naturally concluded we 
had all been murdered. He determined, however, to 
show that he was not afraid, thinking it his only chance, 
and told them they should not come into the house, but 
that he would give them some presents, on condition that 
they did not touch him or his horses, to which condi- 
tions the cacique again readily agreed. They became so 
friendly that S. begged him to change hats, wishing, he 
said, to keep a little remembrance of the supposed unfor- 
tunate owner ; and this being done, the Indians departed, 
first playing the same trick as at Monte Molino, by driv- 
ino- off almost all his horses ; but he was too much relieved 
at their departure to feel great grief at first, and as soon 
as he thought it safe to do so he rode down to see how we 
had fared. 



OUR FIEST SHEEP. 



57 



After a good breakfast and a good talk over our adven- 
tures, we parted, and as no more was seen of the Indians 
we all soon returned to our usual way of life. Our 
anxiety about Frank was in a few days happily relieved 
by the arrival of M., who told us they had seen nothing 
of the Indians. They had purchased a large flock of 
sheep between them, which they had brought on safely 
to a place about ten leagues from us, called Los Perros, 
where there was a deserted house and corral. 

M. had come to fetch G. and myself to assist in 
dividing the flock, half the sheep being M.'s property. 
We started off at once, taking a bullock-waggon for the 
weak lambs, and got to Los Perros the next evening, 
sleeping by the way at Los Algarobitas. I had to break 
to Frank the unwelcome intelligence of the loss of all our 
horses, which he bore with his usual philosophy, and we 
then set to work to part out the sheep. He had bought 
about two thousand, at about five shillings each, and they 
seemed a fine lot, in very good condition, especially con- 
sidering they had travelled about a hundred miles. We 
got them safely up to Monte Molino in about a couple of 
days, and felt we were now really sheep-farmers. 



58 



PIOXE EKING IN THE PAMPAS. 



CHAPTER VI. 

NEIGHBOURS — PROCEEDINGS OP THE D.YY — LIONS — TIGERS — WOLVES 
— SNAKES— EROGS AND TOADS— BISCACHAS — VARIETY OF EOOD — 
ARMADILLOS — CARPINCHOS — IGUANAS — GREY FOXES — SKUNKS — 
WILD-FOWL. 

Ox our return from Los Perros we found that Charlie T. 
had arrived during our absence, bringing up with him a 
newly-found friend who was thinking of settling some- 
where in the country. He was a Southerner, a very nice 
fellow, and had been one of the officers of the Shenandoah. 
At the close of the war she was still cruising about, and 
only heard of its conclusion some months aftpr peace had 
been proclaimed. Her crew were, of course, unable to 
return to their own country, and were now scattered in 
all directions. We all sympathised warmly with W., and 
pressed him to stay with us and settle close by, but, after 
some length of visit, he resolved to establish himself 
nearer to Kosario, and we often met there ; but the last 
time I saw him he was preparing to return to the States, 
the Southerners having all received a free pardon. 

Charlie was soon joined by his brother, and both set to 
work in good earnest to get their place, which they named 
Monte del Maiz, into order. We all helped them as 
much as we could. Our estancias were only three miles 
apart ; and as their house — a wooden one, roofed with 
tiles, and promising to be very comfortable — took some 
months to put up, we all continued to live together. 



LIFE IN THE PAMPAS. 



59 



We now made up a party of about fifteen, and had 
besides a good many occasional visitors ; and, having no 
cook, took it by turns to act in that capacity, for which 
Gr. showed considerable abilities, preferring it to harder 
work. We neither saw nor heard anything more of the 
Indians for some months, and almost forgot their existence. 
Our daily life was much like that in Entre Rios. We 
got up at sunrise, had a cup of coffee, and then went out 
to begin work. The peons had by this time driven in 
the horses, and our first occupation was to catch and 
saddle those wanted for the day. We next let out the 
sheep, who were always driven into the corral for the 
night ; after this we busied ourselves about our garden, 
fencing, &c, as we were enclosing land for growing corn, 
alfalfa, and maize. Since the Indian invasion we had 
deepened and widened our ditch considerably, and had 
begun another, two hundred yards square, which sur- 
rounded our first enclosure of fifty yards, in which was 
the house. 

We had been told that the Indians never drove off 
sheep, so we felt pretty secure about them. We had 
bought a few horses to replace our lost ones, but it was 
long before our stud recovered the cruel ravages it had 
suffered. Our breakfast, a la fourchette, took place be- 
tween eleven and twelve, then, after a couple of hours' 
rest in cool weather, and three or four hours' siesta in 
hot, we went to work again till sunset, when we dined ; 
the rest of the evening we passed together, smoking, 
reading, chatting, until we felt inclined to retire to rest, 
which generally happened pretty early. This was the 
pleasantest period of our life in the Pampas ; we were a 
cheerful party, all full of spirits, and thoroughly able to 
appreciate the feeling of extreme health and enjoyment, 
which the delightful climate and new fresh life give to 
all new comers. I can hardly imagine anything more 



CO 



PIONEERING IJS T THE PAMPAS. 



exhilarating than a gallop in the fresh morning air over 
the free boundless plains ; and when, in addition to this, 
one is riding over one's own land, everything about one 
being an object of interest, and with sanguine hopes of 
success to buoy one up, life seems very enjoyable. Such 
was our pleasant state just now, and, in spite of the dis- 
agreeable little episode of the Indians, we looked forward 
with confidence to making money rapidly. 

We had now about three thousand sheep, which would 
be shorn in November, and would produce about twelve 
thousand pounds of wool, as the sheep here only yield 
about four pounds each ; we had a great many lambs, 
and hoped our flock would increase as rapidly as Frank's 
had done in Entre Bios. We seldom left home at this 
time, and shooting was our chief amusement. There was 
great excitement one morning, on discovering that a lion 
had been among our sheep in the night, and had left about 
twenty dead. Their mode of attack seems to be to spring 
on the back of the sheep and then break its neck ; at least, 
there was a mark under the throat, where the lion's claws 
had evidently grasped his victim, and then, apparently, 
had twisted round its head, until the unlucky sheep was 
strangled. 

We instantly started in search of the enemy, and rode 
for some distance along the river-side before the dogs put 
him up out of the long grass. After a considerable chase 
we came up with him, and brought him to bay with two 
revolver balls through his body ; the dogs then rushed in 
and took off his attention, while we dismounted from our 
horses, and Lisada gave him a coup de grace with an old 
rusty sword with which he had armed himself. 

These lions, as they are called, are in reality pumas ; 
they are rather like a tiger in shape, but are of a yellowish 
colour, and have no mane ; the largest we ever killed 
measured nine feet from its nose to the end of its tail, and 



THE MANED LIOX. 



Gl 



was considered by the natives to be a very large one : 
their ordinary length is about seven feet ; this one was 
lassoed by Lisada and dragged till it was killed, which is 
the common native way of doing the business. Pumas 
do not willingly attack men unless brought to. bay, but 
are very awkward customers when you come to close 
quarters with them. Two of our party had a fight with 
one in the long grass, and, having fired away all their 
shots, wounding him severely, he made a spring at one 
of them, fortunately only scratching his arm and leg, his 
companion in the meantime beating the lion on the back 
of the head, until both it and the gun were flattened, and 
so despatching him. During the first year we killed 
about six ; but they have now retired before settlers, and 
it is a rare thing to see them. They occupied a large 
space in the imagination of one of our party, who came 
in to me one day, declaring he had seen a lion which he 
at first took for a gateado (cat-coloured) horse, it was so 
large and had such a long-flowing mane ; but on his 
nearer approach he discovered his mistake, as the sup- 
posed horse sat up and growled at him, and one of the 
dogs, going up to inspect it, received a blow from the 
lions paw which made it run back howling; his horse 
trembled violently under him and would not approach 
nearer, and the equally sagacious rider apparently sym- 
pathising with its feelings, both made the best of their 
way home ; but no more was seen of the maned lion, the 
only one of the species I ever heard of here. 

The jaguar, or South American tiger, abounds in parts 
of the country, ^specially in the large montes of Entre 
Rios and in the islands of the Parana, but we had very 
few round Frayle Muerto, and we never saw any, though 
a horse of ours, found dead one morning, was supposed, 
by the marks about it, to have been killed by a jaguar, 
as South American lions never attack horses. The jaguar 



62 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



skins are most beautifully marked, and worth from 3/. to 
4/. ; in Buenos Ayres some are even worth 87. 

We once also killed a wolf (yaguarras), but he must 
have strayed down accidentally from more wooded parts. 
There are numbers of them in the sierras of Cordoba; 
the skins are a beautiful reddish-brown, and they have 
very long hair. 

These are the only animals that can be called danger- 
ous, except the reptiles. There are great numbers of 
snakes, some of them very deadly. The most venomous 
kind is that of the Vifora de la Cruz, so called from the 
mark of a cross on its head ; it is a lovely colour, with 
alternate stripes of black, red, and white. The natives 
say that its bite is certain death, and I believe it to be 
very dangerous, though happily I never knew anyone 
bitten by it. There are a great many varieties of snakes, 
the commonest being a black one, from four to five feet 
long, which I believe to be nearly harmless. I came 
across one once which seemed to me nearly six feet long, 
and as thick as a man's wrist, but perhaps it had just 
made a good meal. Hairy Jim brought in a terrific 
account one day of a black snake he had just seen, de- 
scribing it as about thirty feet long, and as thick as his 
leg, but he was rather celebrated for his encounters with 
snakes and Indians. 

The natives have a great dread of serpents, and always 
remonstrated with me on my foolhardiness in attacking 
and killing any that I saw. We turned them up con- 
stantly in ploughing, and often found them in our gardens 
- — indeed, a visit to the melon bed was always rewarded 
by the sight of three or four, but I never found one in 
the house after it was finished, which was a great comfort. 
To make up for their absence, we had enormous quantities 
of toads and frogs indoors, it being quite impossible to 
keep them out. They got behind our boxes, and into 



FROGS. 



63 



every possible corner, and we were often obliged to have 
a clearing out, when about fifty would be found in our 
bed-room and sitting-room. I used sometimes, on these 
occasions, to relieve my feelings by spitting a dozen of 
them on a sword, and though I fear I may be thought 
very cruel, it was trying, if one got up for anything at 
night, to put one's bare foot on a large cold thing like a 
lump of jelly. One of our neighbours was one day draw- 
ing on his boots, when he found something impeded his 
progress, and after stamping for some time and finding it 
still very uncomfortable, he pulled it off to see what was 
the matter, and found that he had been squashing up a 
frog. I always carefully emptied my boots after this 
before putting them on. 

If the wells are not covered they soon get full of frogs, 
who keep up a tremendous croaking at night, and we 
could hear a perfect chorus of them from the river on a 
summer evening, quite a mile off. The toads are as 
active as everything else, and I sometimes watched them, 
when we had moved into our brick house, run ten or 
twelve feet up the wall, and then fall down with a sort of 
squash. 

There were but few scorpions about us, and though the 
natives consider their bite very bad, I can answer for its 
harmlessness, as I was one day bitten on the toe by one, 
and though rather unpleasant at the time, a little ammonia 
soon removed all bad results. We were less troubled by 
insects than in Entre Rios, but had a very fair share of 
them. Our worst enemies in the garden were the bis- 
cachas, who, with their little companions the burrowing 
owls, are to be found in countless numbers all over the 
Pampas. We tried stopping up their holes, but the only 
effectual means of getting rid of them is smoking them 
out with sulphur, for which a machine has been invented. 
They are uninteresting animals, about the size of a large 



64 PIONEERING- IN THE PAMPAS. 

hare, and most destructive among green things. Their 
skins are worth but little, being like that of an inferior 
rabbit, with short grey hair. We often ate the young 
ones for a change, but they are rather dry food, though 
endurable to a hungry settler, in a pie, or made into 
curry. We partook of many new creatures at different 
times ; when other food was scarce we often tried a little 
potro meat (i.e. horseflesh) — not at all a bad thing, as 
the English are now just beginning to discover. Donkey 
and mule are also very palatable, the former being con- 
sidered by the natives a great luxury. The country 
abounds in small armadillos, of which there are four or 
five different species, the commonest being the peludos 
and mulitas. The peludo has hair sticking out between 
the scales of its shell, and is almost a foot in length ; the 
mulita has a smooth shell, and is rather smaller. Both 
are extremely good to eat, though some fastidious people 
turn up their noses at them; they are rather like a 
sucking pig, and we cooked them in the native fashion 
as follows : after being opened and cleaned, a spit was 
thrust through them, and they were roasted in their shell 
over the embers; when sufficiently done, the shell was 
broken off, and a delicious morsel awaited the epicure ; 
but they were better cold than hot, being rather rich. 
There are several other species of armadillo, of which the 
7natajo is the most curious. He rolls himself into a hard 
ball on the approach of an enemy, becoming quite im- 
pervious to a dog's tooth or the hoof of a horse, and look- 
ing more like a ball of dark brown wood than anything 
else, as his head and tail, covered with hard scales, fit 
exactly into each other. Whenever other game failed us 
we were sure of a good meal of armadillo, as we had only 
to ride out with the dogs for an hour or so, and were 
certain to catch half-a-dozen. Of course the abundance 
of these animals renders the camp very unsafe for riding 



f GUANAS. 



Q5 



over, as the ground in most places is quite honeycombed 
with their holes, and you are almost sure to get a fall 
when galloping for any distance ; but the camp is soft, 
and one is scarcely ever hurt. Of course the holes made 
by the biscachas are much larger, but they are not dan- 
gerous to anyone at all acquainted with the country, as 
you can always see, by the bareness of the ground round 
a biscachero, what to avoid ; but the armadillos live in 
the long grass, and it is quite impossible, when riding 
fast, to see their holes. 

Another very common animal in some parts is the 
carpincho, or river pig, who lives in the river, and is 
rather like a common pig in appearance, only brown, and 
with longer hair. The natives eat him, but we never did, 
chiefly because we scarcely had any in our river. The 
skins are useful for saddles and belts. They are very 
shy animals, and difficult to kill. 

The large lizard, or iguana, abounds, and is rather a 
ferocious-looking ereature, about five feet in length, armed 
with long teeth, but is quite harmless, I believe, unless 
attacked. We had an absurd fight one day with an 
iguana, which we came across when out riding. Having 
wounded it with our revolvers, one of our party got down 
to finish it with his whip, upon which it ran snapping at 
him, much to his consternation and our amusement, as 
they stood representing a sort of burlesque of St. George 
and the dragon ; a fierce combat ensued, but our valiant 
champion was at length victorious, and slew the monster 
reptile. They will charge at anyone who attacks them, 
and can inflict a sharp blow on a dog with their tail, and 
rather a serious bite with their long teeth. We were 
never quite reduced to eating them, but they are said to 
be very good. 

I forgot, in describing the beasts of prey, to mention 
great numbers of grey foxes, who were terrible enemies 

p 



66 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



to our young lambs. We overcame our British prejudices, 
and killed them down a good deal. Their skins are very 
useful. The skunks were a great nuisance to us, as they 
would come at night and take our hens off their nests. 
Their presence was easily discovered, as anything more 
horrible than the odour they diffuse can hardly be ima- 
gined. I am sorry to say we have still many about, 
though we have shot at them whenever we could see as 
well as smell them. They are unfortunately not in the 
least timid, and would never run away, appearing aware 
of the advantage they had over us. I could truly say 
4 their tameness was shocking to me,' and they were a 
dreadful pest. Their ways and habits are really too un- 
pleasant to describe further, though they are rather pretty 
little animals to look at — black and white, with soft hair 
and very bushy tails. I skinned one once, but it was too 
dreadful an operation to repeat. A visitor once captured 
one, which he skinned, under the impression that it was 
a new kind of squirrel, and brought it to me in triumph, 
saying, however, that he thought it a pity our squirrels 
had such unpleasant habits. 

Our river, as I said before, abounded in every sort of 
wild-fowl, and whenever we had a little leisure we went 
down to shoot ; towards evening was the best time, as 
then the ducks were flying in countless numbers towards 
their roosting-places. There are also quantities of wild 
swans and geese, and at one time of the year the lovely 
flamingoes came in flocks. To see them rising slowly in 
the air, the sun shining on their wings with every variety 
of shade, from the palest rose colour to the brightest 
scarlet, was a most beautiful sight. Our English relations 
were always exhorting us to send them some of these 
gaily-coloured feathers, which English ladies wear in their 
hats, on the same principle, I suppose, that the Indians 
ornament their spears with them ; but I am afraid it was 



NUTRIAS. 



67 



some time before I attended to these requests, having a 
good deal besides to do. 

The river also abounded in nutrias, a kind of otter, the 
fur of which was in great request in the time of beaver 
hats, and is still of some value for rugs. 



f 2 



68 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



CHAPTER VII. 

A VISITOR FROM ENGLAND; THINKS OUR POSITION DANGEROUS — 
FRIGHTFUL TRAGEDY IN OUR NEIGHBOURHOOD. 

Another new neighbour, T., had lately settled within 
about ten miles of us, on the Saladillo side. He was an 
officer in the English navy, and had been attracted away 
from it by the brilliant prospects supposed to be opening 
in the River Plate. He was soon joined by two brothers, 
John and James W., who had come across the Andes 
from New Zealand with a party of three others, and 
arrived during June. They were now busy digging their 
ditch and building a house, assisted by our truant Jack, 
who had suddenly reappeared. Their estancia was 
named Monte de la Lena, and we could just see it from 
the top of our house as a dim speck in the distance. All 
three were very nice fellows, and a welcome addition to 
our little colony. . . . Many other settlers were buying 
land near to Frayle Muerto, and we began to entertain 
sanguine expectations that our part of the country would 
soon be as populous as Entre Rios. 

In August we had a visit from the T.s' father, who stayed 
a few days at our estancia, and then went on with his 
sons to Monte del Maiz, the house there being nearly 
completed. He had come out to have a look at the 
country and see his sons, and did not much approve of 
their proximity to the Indians. 

There was now a good opportunity of buying land 
cheaply in Santa Fe, and Mr. T. having determined to 



CHANGES. 



69 



buy an estate there for his sons, endeavoured to induce 
us to do the same, thinking that, notwithstanding the 
money we had laid out, it would be better for us all to 
move for a time to a more settled place, and return to 
our present abode when the position should be better de- 
fended. He pressed upon us that the Paraguayan war at 
present took off all the troops, and left the Indian inva- 
sions quite unchecked ; this could not last for ever, but 
meantime we might suffer severely. We none of us 
liked the idea of moving, but the T.s at length decided, 
after much deliberation, to do so for a time. We, how- 
ever, came to the conclusion that we should do better to 
remain where we were, and take our chance ; whether we 
judged wisely or not only time can show. There cer- 
tainly came a period at which we regretted that we had 
not followed Mr. T.'s kind advice, 

We were all much cast down at the prospect of parting 
with such good neighbours and friends, as we could not 
expect to meet very often when one hundred miles apart ; 
they did not, however, finally move away for some months. 
All this time things seemed to be going on in a very pro- 
mising way, and we were looking forward with much 
pleasure to a visit, which my eldest brother and an old 
college friend had written to say they intended to pay us 
during the autumn holidays; we calculated they would 
arrive early in October. Mr. T. did not stay beyond 
August ; and everything went on much as usual until the 
end of September, when an event happened which cast a 
most dreadful gloom over our little colony. 

Anions the new settlers in the neighbourhood were two 
young Englishmen who had just come to a place about 
fifteen miles from us, called Monte Llovedor, where they 
had already put up a small fort surrounded by a ditch, 
and were shortly going to build a house. Some of our 
party had ridden over to see them one day, and found one 



70 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



of the partners, P., was away on business ; the other, 
Edwardes, was hard at work, assisted by his headman, 
Dan Mulligan, two Englishmen who had at one time 
worked for us, and two peons. We left about the middle 
of the afternoon, the Irish capataz or headman, Dan Mul- 
ligan, accompanying us, to bring back a horse which 
Edwardes had purchased from us, intending to sleep at 
our house, and return with it the next day. The first 
intelligence, however, that greeted us next morning, was 
a report brought in by our peons that the Indians were 
again about ; and the capataz accordingly delayed his 
return for a couple of days, fearing that he should fall in 
with them. Nothing more having been seen or heard of 
any invaders, he started in the afternoon with the horse, 
and the following morning G. and Lisada rode out to see 
whether they could obtain any news, intending also, if the 
Indians really had been in the neighbourhood, to pick up 
any stray cattle they might have left behind them. 

They rode for about nine miles without seeing anything, 
but then suddenly came upon traces of a large Indian en- 
campment close to the river, where a number of things of 
no value, evidently the property of English settlers, were 
lying strewed about on the ground. Among them was a 
book which they picked up, and at once returned with it, 
and when it was dry we with some difficulty made out 
P.'s name written in the first page. 

This discovery alarmed us much for the safety of our new 
neighbours, but it was too late to do anything that after- 
noon, and we were forced to wait till the next morning, 
when Frank, Lisada, and myself started off, well armed 
and mounted on our fastest horses, to see whether any- 
thing was amiss at Monte Llovedor. We kept a good 
look-out for Indians during our fifteen miles' ride, but saw 
nothing to alarm us till we got near the place, when the 
first glance showed us that the fort was entirely destroyed, 



OUR FEARS REALISED. 



71 



and instead of the cheery welcome that had greeted our 
arrival five days ago, we were only received by a mournful 
howling from all the dogs. We rode close up to the ditch, 
where a dreadful scene of devastation met our eyes. The 
fort was in ruins, all burnt and blackened, and over it were 
the charred remains of the two carts ; the bullock trunks 
stood near, broken open, and all the contents which the 
Indians had not cared to take away, such as letters, books, 
&c, lay strewed about in every direction. 

We dismounted, and having tied up our horses, began 
to make further investigations into the fate of our un- 
fortunate neighbours, and finding nothing at first, were 
beginning to hope they might have escaped, when we 
suddenly perceived in the ditch three bodies, two lying 
close to the little fort, and one by the drawbridge in the 
outer ditch. They were loosely covered with earth, which 
led us at first to hope they were Indians, as they were ao 
much blackened that it was difficult to make out what 
nation they belonged to. They were, however, in reality, 
the bodies of poor Edwardes and his two English workmen, 
though we only discovered this a little later. We were 
pursuing our mournful search, when happening suddenly 
to raise our eyes, we saw in the distance a number of horse- 
men approaching from several sides. Thinking, of course, 
that the Indians were returning, we instantly ran into the 
little fort, and prepared to defend ourselves as best we could. 

The party seemed in no great hurry to reach us, and 
two of their number rode slowly forward as if reconnoi- 
tring. They at length came near enough for us to see 
them clearly, when we perceived, to our great joy, that 
they were natives, and not Indians. They seemed equally 
relieved at making a similar discovery about us, and the 
whole body then rode up, when we found them to consist 
of a sort of scratch troop hastily got together, headed by 
Don Nasario Casas, the Comandante of Frayle Muerto. 



72 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



They were supposed to be in search of the Indians, but 
they had taken very good care not to come out until the 
enemy had all made off. They presented a most curious 
appearance, armed in a miscellaneous way, with any old 
weapon they could lay their hands on, old swords, lances, 
&c, and each man was most carefully leading his best 
horse, on which he evidently intended to escape in case 
the enemy should come in sight. From them we learned 
that the Irish capataz, after leaving us, had ridden straight 
back to Monte Llovedor, which he reached just at sunset; 
but the moment he arrived he perceived the fearful cata- 
strophe that had taken place, and, having got a glimpse 
of the dead bodies, was just about to dismount from his 
horse to examine them, when he saw in the distance twelve 
or fourteen men galloping towards him at full speed. It 
was rapidly becoming dark, so he made off as quickly as 
possible to S.'s estancia, which was about ten miles off. 
Darkness favoured him, and having a good start of the 
Indians, after galloping some miles he got away from his 
pursuers, and at last seeing no more of them, and being 
unable to go farther in the complete darkness, he resolved 
to unsaddle his horse and wait for daylight. He lay down, 
and in spite of his dangerous position fell asleep for a few 
hours, but just as it became light found he was near S.'s 
estancia, to which he at once rode up and told them what 
had happened. S. got together all the Englishmen he 
could from the neighbouring estancias, and they rode 
down to examine the spot, when they recognised the 
bodies as those of poor Edwardes and his two English 
workmen, and covered them lightly with earth until they 
could be taken away and properly buried. This had been 
done the day before our visit, and S. and his party then 
went on into Frayle Muerto to give notice to the Coman- 
dante of what had occurred. 

Don Nasario had himself lost about one thousand five 



A HARROW ESCAPE. 



73 



hundred head of cattle, and was now come out, he said, to 
endeavour, after examining the spot, to overtake the In- 
dians, and get back some of his property. We all remained 
at the fort some time longer, and I had a narrow escape 
myself from an old rusty fowling-piece going off close to 
my head in the hands of one of these unskilful militia ; 
upon which Don Nasario assured him that instant death 
would have been his fate had I been in the least injured. 

Nothing more could be done, and we at last separated 
and rode slowly home, having first agreed that the bodies 
of our unfortunate countrymen should be shortly taken 
down to Rosario and properly buried, which was soon 
after done. It was strange by how mere a chance, 
apparently, two of the usual inhabitants of the estancia 
escaped sharing the fate of the others ; P., the other 
owner, who was returning home, having stopped at the 
Algarobitas, which was the nearest estancia, for the night, 
intending to return early the next day ; and the Irish 
capataz having, in consequence of our visit, returned 
with us, only two or three hours before the Indians came ; 
indeed, we all narrowly escaped falling in with them. 

When the first panic had subsided, all the settlers 
endeavoured to learn the exact particulars of this sad 
affair ; but we had only the account of the native peon, 
whom at first we strongly suspected of treachery. I now 
think, however, that our suspicions were erroneous ; the 
boy had been carried off by the Indians, and was never 
seen again. 

The account which the peon gave was as follows : — 
Very soon after dark, on the evening of the day on which 
our party had visited Monte Llovedor, all the men were 
busy preparing supper in their tent, when they suddenly 
heard a rush of horsemen, and, guessing at once what it 
was, seized their arms and ran into the fort, which they 
had only that day completed. The Indians, who were 



74 PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS, 

supposed to be about two hundred in number, surrounded 
the whole place, and told them that, if they would come 
out and give up everything they had, their lives should 
be spared. The sides of the fort were built of sods of 
earth and thatched with grass, thickly covered with mud, 
supposed to be able to resist tire. There was a deep 
outer ditch round the whole enclosure, which was about 
fifty yards square, in the middle of which the tent was 
pitched, the fort being in one corner, with a second ditch 
round it ; but poor Edwardes and his partner had com- 
mitted the unlucky mistake of leaving the earth thrown out 
of the ditch in a heap round it, which, of course, formed a 
shelter for the enemy to creep up behind. There was a 
small drawbridge across the ditch, which the besieged 
party pulled up; and, seeing what a strong force the 
Indians had, Edwardes told them they might take any- 
thing in the tent, but that, if they attempted to enter the 
fort, he should fire on them. 

While he was talking, the treacherous Indians sur- 
rounded him, getting into the ditch, where they began 
poking the sides of the fort with their long lances ; upon 
which the Englishmen fired upon them, but it was so 
dark they could not see whether they hit any of their 
assailants. The Indians then collected bunches of dried 
grass, which they lighted and pushed under the eaves 
with their lances, soon setting fire in this way to the roof. 
After a short time the smoke and heat became so un- 
bearable that the three Englishmen all rushed out together, 
and were instantly murdered by the Indians. The native 
slipped into the ditch with the boy in front of him, first 
instructing the latter to say he was quite young, and to 
implore them to spare his life. The boy and native were 
immediately pulled out by the Indians, who were about 
to despatch the man, when some Gauchos who were with 
them pleaded for his life, and, as he was already wounded 



THE ESTANCIA DESERTED. 75 

in the leg, they contented themselves with stripping him. 
He recognised one of the Gauchos, who interceded for 
him, as having been up to the fort a short time before, 
with a horse they had bought, when he was probably 
acting as an Indian spy. This man advised him to make 
the best of his way off, as, if he fell in with any stray 
Indians, they would be sure to kill him. He reached an 
English estancia next morning, where he told his story, 
and was taken into Frayle Muerto to the doctor, his leg 
being very badly wounded. He always stuck to this 
account, when questioned by anyone ; so we at last con- 
cluded it must be true ; and there could, of course, be no 
doubt that our poor neighbours had been murdered by 
the Indians. 

The natives declared that they found some Indian 
graves to the south freshly made, so we all hoped some of 
the shots had taken effect. P. soon after abandoned a 
spot so full of melancholy recollections, and settled in 
Rosario ; but it was long before the painful impression 
caused by this event passed away from the neighbourhood ; 
and it had a most disastrous effect, in quite checking, 
for a time, the numerous emigrants, who were beginning 
to settle round us. 



76 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



CHAPTEE VIII. 

EEAYLE HTTEETO — THE FONDA — INCEEASE OE THE TOWN — ITS 
OEEICIA1S — HEALTHINESS OE THE CLIMATE. 

Letters from England made us now expect that my 
brother and his companion might shortly arrive, as it was 
now the beginning of October, and, from calculating the 
probable time taken up by the voyage, we felt they must 
already have reached Buenos Ayres ; a few days, there- 
fore, after the sad event recorded in my last chapter, I 
started for Frayle Muerto, taking horses with me for 
them to ride out, and there I for some days awaited their 
arrival. Frayle Muerto had advanced many steps in 
civilisation since our arrival at the post-house fifteen 
months before. The railway from Kosario was now open 
as far as this point, and the temporary station had some- 
thing of the appearance of a similar one in some country 
place at home; the foundations of a grand permanent 
station were laid, and when finished, a few months later, 
it was quite as good, and arranged much in the same way, 
as in any ordinary town in England. Indeed, strange as 
it may seem, the railway waiting-room always gave me 
a much more home-like feeling than anything else in the 
country ; and I used to look quite affectionately at the 
clerk, dispensing the tickets through the square pigeon- 
hole, and all the other little things that reminded me of 
old England. 

The traffic on the line increased daily, as even the 
natives, slow as they are to adopt any improvements, 



THE FOJN T DA. 



77 



began to discover that their goods accomplished the one 
hundred and thirty miles between Rosario and Frayle 
Muerto much more rapidly by rail than in the tortoise-like 
bullock-carts ; and there was a great deal of passenger 
traffic, the English settlers finding it now much more fre- 
quently necessary to go down to Rosario on business than 
when the journey entailed two days' confinement inside 
the stuffy diligence. Besides the railway station there 
was now a fonda, or small inn, a great improvement on 
the old post-house, kept by an Italian, named Don Pepe, 
supposed to be a count in his own country. — I believe he 
was a man of good family, obliged to leave Italy for some 
political reasons. He was very popular with the English 
settlers, being always ready to oblige and help them in 
every way ; but he maintained a stern and imposing 
demeanour towards the natives, whom he detested, de- 
claring them to be ( muy picaros,' and possessing various 
other amiable qualities. 

The fonda contained three rooms, one of which was 
used for the bar, and served also as a sort of general shop, 
which supplied heterogeneous articles of every description. 
The next apartment was the dining-room, turned at night 
into a bed-room ; when the mingled odour of garlic, oil, 
cana, and tobacco smoke rendered the air not of the most 
balmy description. Never in my life did I enter this 
apartment without finding one or two inmates who had 
evidently had a great deal more cana than was good for 
them, and generally, I am sorry to say, the number of 
these unpleasant companions was much larger. The 
other room was a sleeping-room, reserved for the superior 
guests, including, of course, all the English settlers. Don 
Pepe never allowed the Gauchos to penetrate beyond the 
bar, but, even with all he could do, the fonda was a rough 
place, unsuited to the fastidious ; still, it was very superior 
to anything ever known before, and looked upon by the 



78 



PIONEERING IX THE PAMPAS. 



weary travellers, fresh from roughing it in the camp, as a 
sort of haven of delight. 

Don Pepe was assisted in his labours by a partner, 
Luigi by name, generally supposed to have been a brigand, 
and indeed he had no objection to admit as much, stating 
that he had been previously brought up as a priest, but 
had left his ecclesiastical studies for a more stirring life. 
He used worse language than anyone I ever met with, 
but was so much alarmed during the cholera time, two 
years ago, by a sharp attack which nearly brought him 
to the grave, that for some time afterwards his conversa- 
tion would have been fit for the ears of his early asso- 
ciates, some of his old ideas having, I suppose, returned 
to his mind. He was a good-tempered fellow, and much 
liked in spite of his faults, both by Don Pepe and his 
English miests. 

An Englishman started another fonda, which went on 
for some time, during which we all thought it our dirty to 
patronise him ; but want of capital soon forcing him to 
retire from the contest, Don Pepe now has it all his own 
way, and also manages the refreshment-room at the station, 
the first contractor, a Hungarian J ew, having moved on 
to Villa Nueva. 

It is curious how cosmopolitan one gets living in any 
part of the New World ; and no one who has only seen the 
other side of the Atlantic can, I think, entirely understand 
the state of >society in the two Americas. Some of one's 
British prejudices are removed and some strengthened; 
one feels confirmed in the first article of a Briton's creed, 
that there is no place like England, and no people like 
Englishmen, but one feels also that other nations possess 
kind feelings and warmth of heart 3 and circumstances 
arise occasionally, showing that ( one touch of nature 
makes the whole world kin.' This, I must add, does not 
include the Indians. 



SOCIETY IN FRAYLE MUEETO. 



79 



But to return to Frayle Muerto. A good many new 
houses had been built in the town, which now contained 
about a thousand inhabitants. The leading characters in 
the place were, first, Don Cleto del Campillo, who was, 
in fact, the only real gentleman there. He was descended 
from one of the best old Spanish families in the River 
Plate, and his father had held a high office under Govern- 
ment, both in America and Europe. Don Cleto was a 
very well educated and agreeable man, with a great 
admiration for Shakespeare — a good test of a foreigner's 
literary taste in the eyes of a Briton. He was always 
most pleasant and kind to the English, whom, he says, he 
considers one of the first nations in the world, having a 
great contempt for the Grauchos. Don Cleto had origin- 
ally been a rich man, and at this time still possessed a 
good deal of property, both near Frayle Muerto and 
round Cordoba. Our friend and neighbour M., whom I 
previously mentioned, has, however, bought most of his 
property round Frayle Muerto, and I fear Don Cleto 
may intend to remove to Cordoba. 

Don Nasario was the next in rank. He commanded a 
fluctuating band of soldiers, which generally appeared to 
me to amount to about twelve in number. This efficient 
troop, and any volunteers who could be got together on 
the spur of the moment, at this time constituted the 
whole national defence against Indian invasions. 

The police arrangements were conducted by the ( Juez 
de Paz,' a dignitary who held office for a year, and was 
elected by votes in the district. This important post was 
last held by a leading shoemaker, Don Benigno. The 
operations of justice were conducted in the house of the 
person in temporary authority, and were generally pretty 
summary. 

I could never quite discover who or what the police 
were, but when anyone was to be taken up, an individual 



80 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



in no particular dress, armed with a drawn sword, would 
appear, and march the victim off' to prison. The ( cuarteP 
was a small room close to the guard-house, so that the 
military force eoulcl be called in whenever the civil proved 
inefficient. The Comandante possessed the power of life 
and death, and executions were not uncommon. 

A man working for us at one time was put to death 
under the following circumstances. 

He had deserted from the army, having murdered one 
of his officers, and came to us in search of work, which 
we gave him, not, of course, being aware of his previous 
conduct ; but after working for us a short time, he took 
it into his head to go into the town, for some purpose or 
other, and being there recognised by an officer who had 
known of his crime, and happened to be passing through 
Frayle Muerto, he was instantly arrested, tried, and 
shot. 

He quite brought his death upon himself, having pre- 
viously been warned by the judge to leave the town, and 
told that while he continued quietly working out in the 
camp he should be unnoticed, but if he persisted in 
remaining in the town, drinking and gambling, he would 
be taken up for trial. He remained in spite of the warn- 
ing till recognised by the officer, whose demand for his 
punishment could not be disregarded, and he certainly 
deserved his fate. 

The priest was an Italian, and not a very clerical 
character, but pleasant and good-natured, and having 
been educated as a doctor, did all he could for the bodies 
of his parishioners, and I trust also for their souls. What 
curious vicissitudes of life had at length landed him in 
this secluded part of the Argentine Republic I do not 
know, but he was a well-informed man, acquainted with 
several modern languages, and a very pleasant companion. 
He came into the'fonda at one time for his meals, while 



KELIGION, EDUCATION, AND MEDICAL SKILL. 81 



his house was building, and it was there I used to see 
him. During the cholera time he exerted himself nobly 
for the people, and I hope may have made some lasting 
impression on them. 

The Gauchos make a perfect jest of everything con- 
nected with religion, and are scarcely ever seen inside a 
church, appearing to think that the women can do all that 
is necessary for them. The church was of brick, a small, 
ugly building, with a single bell hung up outside; the altar 
adorned in the usual tawdry fashion. There are schools 
in all towns of this size, I believe, under the control of 
Government, and reading and writing are taught in them, 
but very little religious instruction, if any, given. All 
townspeople can read and write, but these are very un- 
common accomplishments out in the camp, and a Gaucho 
who possesses both always takes care to let you know his 
powers, of which he is not a little proud. The women, as 
a rule, are better educated than the men, and can mostly 
read and write, though Salome was an exception, and 
sometimes requested me to read her letters to her. The 
correspondence was not highly interesting. 

The only person who remains to be described is the 
doctor. He was a clever little man, well informed about 
general things, and devoted to gardening. He was very 
kind in giving us seeds and vegetables for our newly-made 
beds, and always welcomed us hospitably at his house, 
where his pretty niece, Dona Flores, did the honours in 
a very attractive way, and made it rather an agreeable 
resort. 

As to Don Bartolo's medical skill, I never tested it 
but once, when I did not find it very efficacious ; but I 
am bound to add I was suffering from rheumatism, which 
is a difficult complaint to cure in all countries. 

We usually acted as our own doctors, as it was not very 
convenient to send thirty miles for a physician ; indeed 

a 



82 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



we might have sent a good many times before anybody 
would have come, Monte Molino being regarded in 
Frayle Muerto much as an expedition to the Highlands 
was regarded by Baillie Nicol Jarvie in 6 Rob Roy ;' 
and, besides this, the poor doctor was so lame from two 
club feet, an ailment quite beyond the skill of Argentine 
surgeons to cure, that he was hardly able to limp about 
the town. I was therefore obliged to turn medico on my 
own account, and was rather proud of my success on one 
occasion in setting a broken thigh. One of our boys, 
Yenero, had just captured a sheep he had been ordered 
to bring up, and was riding towards the house with it in 
his arms, when his horse ran away with him, and fell over 
the wire fencing, where a universal smash of horse, boy, 
and sheep having taken place, the natives ran in to in- 
form me that Venero was ( quebrado ' (broken). I went 
out, hardly knowing what to expect, and soon discovered 
that he had fractured his thigh, and as it was, of course, 
necessary to send him to the doctor, I thought he would 
suffer less from thirty miles' bumping over the camp in a 
bullock cart, if his leg was first set even in my un- 
professional way. I therefore made some small wooden 
splints, and having put his leg in the proper position, I 
bound it firmly up with strips of linen, in spite of piteous 
outcries from my patient. He was then despatched to 
the doctor, who pronounced the limb properly set, and 
merely tightened the bandages a little ; in about six weeks 
Yenero returned, as well able to use his legs as ever, and 
I used to look at him with considerable pride. 

The natives came constantly to me for c remedios,' 
which they always swallowed with the most undoubting 
faith. The healthy life they lead renders their constitu- 
tions wonderfully good, and they recover from any acci- 
dent or illness in a most rapid way. The climate is 
certainly very healthy, and the Gauchos never suffer from 



DISEASES OF THE COUNTRY. 



83 



fever or ague, which do not readily attack foreigners ; 
though^ of course, it is possible to have fever, as I myself 
experienced. In general all new comers to the country 
enjoy remarkably good health. The only peculiarity 
which I am quite unable to account for is, that in spite of 
the large amount of fresh puie air, they find any cuts or 
wounds very difficult to cure ; and lockjaw will come on 
from the most trifling accident. A poor friend of my own 
died of it, brought on by what appeared to be merely a 
slight scratch in his little finger, on which he unhappily 
put sticking-plaster ; lint and cold water being the proper 
remedies. He was in Buenos Ayres at the time, and, of 
course, within reach of good doctors, but they were quite 
unable to save him. 

Any little cut takes a long time to heal, and generally 
leaves a scar; but we always found cold water dressings, 
applied at once, a safe remedy. . . 

The natives must have suffered terribly within the last 
few years from smallpox, as in some parts of the country 
three persons out of every five are marked with it ; but, 
whenever it came, I suppose it exhausted itself, as I never 
heard of any case. The only general epidemic I myself 
witnessed was the dreadful visitation of cholera a little 
later, which I shall describe by and by. 



84 



PIONEEEINGr m THE PAMPAS. 



CHAPTEK IX. 

ET7ETHEE AEEITALS— IOAEEES — SHEEP-DEIVING — OUE DOGS. 

I remained some days in Frayle Muerto in hopes of 
hearing some news of the arrival of my brother and his 
friend, residing, of course, at Don Pepe's splendid es- 
tablishment. Some of the English settlers were constantly 
in and out of the town, and our colony could now boast 
of some ladies, who had recently arrived. Mr. F. and 
his wife had recently established themselves at an estancia 
about four leagues from the town, where they were build- 
ing a house; and, one league out of the town, a place 
called ( Las Chanaritos ' had just been taken by a nu- 
merous family, lately arrived in the colony. They con- 
sisted of five brothers, one of whom had a wife and two 
or three little children, and two sisters ; these ladies all 
being very pleasant and lively, Las Chanaritos became a 
popular resort. They belonged to an old family in the 
county Clare, and possessing the spirit in which the Irish 
are never deficient, bore the various hardships and diffi- 
culties inseparable from first settling, with the greatest 
cheerfulness, and appeared quite indifferent to the Indians, 
from whom, of course, their near neighbourhood to the 
town made them much safer than if they had been far- 
ther out in the camp, though there was really nothing 
beyond Don Nasario and his twelve soldiers to prevent 
their coming into Frayle Muerto and carrying off any- 
thing they might take a fancy to. 

After waiting vainly for some days without any tidings 



PLEASANT WEATHER. 



85 



of my friends' arrival, I was forced to return to Monte 
Molino, trusting they would find their way out to us, 
whenever they might arrive. I kept a good look-out for 
Indians during my ride home, but saw no signs of them, 
and found on my return that there had been no fresh 
alarm, though we supposed them to be still hovering 
about the camps. 

The weather became terribly wet and stormy, and for 
a few days we neither saw nor heard anything of our ex- 
pected guests. 

I was sitting rather gloomily in the house one after- 
noon, a severe ( temporal ' raging outside, having just 
abandoned all hopes of finding any spot where drops of 
water should not descend slowly on my head, like the 
drippings from a leaky shower-bath before the victim 
takes courage to pull the string, and was endeavouring to 
forget my trials in the settler's unfailing solace, a pipe, 
when I suddenly descried two drenched horsemen gallop- 
ing up to the house, and was delighted to perceive that 
one of them was my brother, making his way across the 
camp under the guidance of a peon. 

After a joyful meeting we proceeded to make him as 
comfortable as circumstances would permit. He, of 
course, arrived in a very hungry state, not inclined to 
take a much more cheerful view of the Argentine Repub- 
lic than poor G. had done on his first arrival. I found 
that he and his friend Hume had come up by train from 
Rosario, and reached Frayle Muerto on the afternoon of 
the very day I had left it; having fallen in with our 
neighbour T. in the train, they had been hospitably 
pressed by him to come on to Monte de la Lena, as the 
easiest way of reaching us. They accordingly rode out, 
intending to sleep there, and come on next day, but found 
all at the estancia in momentary expectation of an attack 
from Indians ; under these circumstances their kind host 



86 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



would not hear of their running the risk of riding across 
the camp, but insisted on their remaining till all fear of 
the Indians was over. They waited three days, during 
all which time a storm was raging incessantly, and the 
house being nothing but a mud rancho, put up for tem- 
porary use, streams of water poured in on every side. 
They were all shut up in one room, the furniture of which 
was limited to three or four wooden stools and a table, 
and there were few resources for amusement beyond the 
constant expectation of an attack from the Indians. The 
meals were served up in a tin pan and pannikin, and 
there was a great scarcity of provisions, the party on the 
last day being all reduced to live on raisins. This was 
rather a change for two travellers fresh from the London 
season, and my brother being unable to bear it any longer 
resolved at last to take his chance of the Indians, and T. 
refusing to allow him to walk over, as he proposed, fur- 
nished him with a horse and guide, with which he started, 
I went over the next day to welcome Hume to the new 
country, and found him very much disgusted indeed with 
everything, excepting T.'s kind hospitality. The sun 
began to shine, however, as we rode back to Monte 
Molino, talking over old college days and present things 
at the same moment ; I making enquiries for friends at 
home, and Hume uttering remarks more forcible than 
flattering, as to the country, natives, and general state of 
things, amid which he suddenly found himself in the 
Frayle Muerto camps. 

As we rode up to the house we descried Walter, already 
armed with a spade, at work in the garden, and project- 
ing all sorts of improvements, having quite forgotten the 
unpleasant three days at Monte de la Lena ; and Hume 
having been brought to the same cheerful way of viewing 
things by some rest and food, we held a long discussion 
with these new advisers, as to whether we should follow 



SECOND THOUGHTS. 



87 



Mr. T.'s advice and remove to Santa Fe, or remain on 
here and trust to keeping off the Indians nntil peace 
with Paraguay enabled the Government to defend the 
frontiers properly. The general vote was for remaining, 
and our new councillors agreed with us that we ought as 
soon as possible to begin building a larger house, hinting 
that the present abode was hardly a sufficient residence 
for five inmates, usually favoured with half a dozen 
guests. 

Hume soon told me that, in spite of his feelings of 
disgust on reaching Monte de la Lena, his opinion of the 
country had so far improved as to make him wish to try 
a few years of it, and that, if we were willing to take him, 
he would join us as a third partner. We readily agreed to 
this, as an increase of numbers was verv desirable in the 
disturbed state of the country, and, of course, an old 
friend was a welcome addition to our party. This being 
arranged, he wished, before settling down, to see a little of 
the country ; and, my brother being anxious to make the 
most of his time, they both set off for Santa Fe. They 
went by train as far as Tortugas, a railway station about 
half way between Frayle Muerto and Rosario, and, having 
there procured some horses, started off across the camp, 
intending to pay a visit to K. and his party at Las Rosas, 
the estancia which I mentioned in a former chapter. 

As might have been naturally expected, they very 
speedily lost their way, the flat green plains being ex- 
tremely confusing to new comers, as the slight indications 
which are enough to guide an old inhabitant in the camp 
are almost imperceptible at first ; and my brother said it 
reminded him forcibly of being at sea on dry land. They 
were reduced to sleeping out, and soon found themselves 
a prey to most savage attacks from the inexorable mos- 
quitoes, so much so that, by next morning, Hume declared 
o me that his nearest and dearest relations would not 



88 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



have known him. They were relieved to find that in the 
darkness they had been wandering about close to the 
estancia they were in search of, which they reached about 
breakfast time, receiving a kind welcome when they 
mentioned our names. They were, however, at once in- 
troduced to a very wholesome custom which prevailed at 
Las Rosas, namely, that all visitors not provided with 
estancias. of their own should make themselves useful, and 
at once join in whatever work was going on. Hume told 
me he was a little startled at finding himself expected to 
begin ramming posts in for wire fencing, immediately 
after finishing his breakfast, and while still almost unable 
to see from the effects of the mosquitoes ; but a very short 
residence in the country made him approve most highly 
of the rules at Las Rosas. 

And, having said this much, I cannot help slightly 
mentioning a habit much too prevalent among some men 
who come out to the country ; namely, the taking an 
unfair advantage of the hospitality most readily shown by 
all settlers, and remaining for months, living at the ex- 
pense of their hosts, without offering to assist in the work 
going on in any way. Such people ought to remember 
that ail settlers recently arrived, having come out to make 
their fortunes, cannot possibly be rich ; and it is extremely 
hard upon them to have a number of young men living 
upon them for weeks, and perhaps months, doing nothing 
whatever to assist in the work. I cannot myself under- 
stand how anyone can possibly feel comfortable under 
such circumstances. All the English settlers in Santa 
Fe and Cordoba had a strong feeling on this subject ; and, 
though nobody ever expected any work from a brother 
settler with a place of his own, who might come for a 
visit, we should none of us have thought of sitting with 
our hands before us, while our hosts were toiling hard for 
their livelihood. We all suffered a good deal from what 



AN ESTANCIEKO'S OPINION OF LOAFERS. 89 

we called the army of loafers, i. e. a number of young 
men come out from England, under pretence of becoming 
sheep-farmers, who simply passed their time in going from 
one estancia to another, merely amusing themselves, and 
staying as long as their entertainers would keep them ; 
circulating, as I might say, through the country, till 
found by their hosts to be such completely worthless coin 
that they refused to pass them any more. Our very great 
distance from civilisation caused us at first to be less 
favoured with these sorts of guests ; but, Las Rosas being 
only twenty leagues from Rosario, if the four partners 
had not made most stringent rules on the subject, and 
enforced them in a way that their previous experience of 
military discipline made easy, they would shortly, to use 
a common expression, have been eaten out of house and 
home by casual visitors. To real friends Las Rosas was 
the most hospitable of houses, and considered by us all as 
the model of an estancia. We were obliged, later, to 
adopt their rule about visitors working, as Frayle Muerto 
became better known, and the camps round us a great 
resort for new comers. The four proprietors of Las Rosas 
had put up a very fair house and good out-buildings, and 
had also enclosed a great deal of land. They had some 
hundred head of cattle, and a few sheep, but were turning 
their attention chiefly to agriculture; they lived very 
comfortably, and the estancia bid fair, in time, to be one 
of the most prosperous in Santa Fe; they were considered 
to be quite out of Indian range, and it was only about 
seven leagues from Las Rosas that the T.s intended to 
start their new place. 

After about a fortnight's visit, Hume returned to us, 
my brother going on to Rosario, and intending to be a 
little longer absent, as he wished to see rather more of 
the country. Hume resolved to buy some sheep as soon 
as possible, and our neighbour M. having just brought 



90 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



up several thousand from Rio Quarto, some of which he 
intended to dispose of, it seemed a very good opportunity 
for adding to our flock. The weather had become very 
sultry ^ and Hume suddenly reappeared after two or three 
days' absence, looking very hot and uncomfortable. He 
told us he had bought about eight hundred sheep, which 
he had driven along, by dint of superhuman exertions, to 
about four leagues from our estancia, until about the 
middle of the day, when they suddenly refused to move a 
step farther, and all laid themselves down in the road, 
huddled up close together, such being the universal 
custom of Argentine sheep in hot weather, who, like 
their owners, insist on taking four hours' siesta in the 
middle of the day, which no arguments can induce them 
to dispense with, though, as I have before mentioned, 
their habits at other times are sufficiently active. No 
water being procurable, and the mosquitoes quite mad- 
dening, he rode off at last, leaving them with the peons, 
and came to ask us to help him. We first laughed at 
him, and then consoled him by explaining the habits of 
Cordovese sheep ; and when it got a little cooler we all 
rode off together, and at last got his rebellious flock safely 
up to the estancia, 

The usual time for shearing is about the beginning of 
November, but owing to the difficulty of procuring 
shearers this year, from the Indians being in the camp, 
we were forced to put it off till the end of December, and 
did not get everything finished till about the first week 
in January. We were tolerably satisfied with this first 
year's clip, though the value of wool had rather fallen 
during the last year ; but we got as good a price for our 
long coarse wool in Frayle Muerto as was given in Buenos 
Ayres for the finest short wool, the market being quite 
overstocked with the latter article. 

I forgot to mention that my brother and Hume brought 



' NELL.' 



91 



with them another addition to our establishment besides 
themselves, in the shape of a large bull mastiff, just full 
grown, and a very valuable dog. Nell promised also to 
be a good guard — a very necessary thing in the camp, 
and for which the native dogs are not much to be de- 
pended upon. She was a most affectionate animal, and 
much beloved and respected during her residence with 
us, which was, alas ! destined to be a very short one, as 
after a very few weeks she unfortunately followed us one 
very hot day when we were riding into Frayle Muerto, 
and before she got above halfway was so much affected 
by the heat, that she crept into the long grass and died 
there. We had got some miles before we saw her, or we 
should not, of course, have allowed her to come. A valua- 
able dog like this was a great loss, as besides the expense 
of bringing her out from England, it was impossible to 
replace her in the country, where there are scarcely any- 
thing but curs. Of these we always had a large assort- 
ment of every possible size and shape, and who, though 
of no particular breed, were always ready to assist in any 
hunting that might be going on, in which they generally 
joined with more zeal than discretion. The best of the 
collection was a greyhound named ' Galgo/ who was 
rather quick at catching deer. Frank also possessed a 
half-bred terrier called 6 Spot,' given him in Rosario, to 
which he was extremely partial, and which would attack 
foxes in the most intrepid manner possible. My own 
chief favourite was an old dog I had brought with me 
when first I went down to Monte Molino ; he was named 
Cuatrojos (four eyes), a favourite native name for a dog 
with a spot of tan over each eye. 6 China,' a small white 
cur, was a great pet with everyone ; and the whole pack, 
of course, walked in and out just as they liked, consider- 
ing themselves entitled to the warmest and most com- 
fortable place, and to everyone's first attention on all 



92 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



occasions. I usually found three or four faithful attendants 
reposing on my feet when I awoke in the morning. 

My brother returned to us just about Christmas. He 
had got horses in Rosario, and ridden alone some seventy 
miles across the country, and had on the morning he 
reached us a most narrow escape of being drowned while 
crossing the Tercero, about six leagues from us. The 
river was very much swollen by the rains, and a tremen- 
dous current running. While swimming the two horses 
over, they became alarmed, and quite unmanageable ; and 
he, getting somehow or other entangled in the cord, found 
himself pulled off his horse, and struggling in a stream 
running like a mill-race, encumbered at the same time by 
a rope fastened to two frightened horses. Being a very 
good swimmer, he managed to keep up until he, could free 
himself, and at last safely reached the shore ; but swim- 
ming horses over a swollen river some eighty yards in 
width is rather a dangerous undertaking. 

Shortly after this my brother received accounts from 
England, which made him feel at liberty to alter his 
previous intention of returning at once to England, and 
decided him on remaining with us, to try how he really 
liked a settler's life, for which in idea he had always had 
a great fancy. He therefore proposed to us to remain on 
for the present as a fourth partner, an offer to which we 
were all delighted to agree ; and the new year found us 
with this addition to our numbers. 



93 



CHAPTER X. 

CHOOSING THE SITE OE A NEW HOUSE — BRICK-MAKING — HOESE- 
liACING — HOESES OF THE COTJNTET ; MODE OP BEE AKIN G ; THEIE 
COLOTTBS; HOESE-BEALING. 

We now began to make plans for building our new house, 
and determined to move to higher ground, nearer the 
river, as we thought it would be a better situation in 
many ways, and that a fresh spot could be better laid out 
for gardens, quintas, &c., than the place in which we 
were at present ; but it was v impossible to begin until the 
materials were got up to the place, as it was necessary to 
make all our bricks on the spot, and for this purpose we 
were also obliged to bring down wood from Frayle 
Muerto to burn them with. 

The process of brick-making in the River Plate is a 
very simple one, and during its progress I was often re- 
minded of the accounts in the Bible of the brick-making in 
Egypt. The following is a short description of the method 
pursued in the River Plate. 

A well is first dug, and the grass cleared off a large 
space of ground, not far off from whence the earth is to 
be taken. Close to the well is made the pisadera, so 
called from pisar, to tread, in which the mud is to be 
trodden by mares, driven round and round by a man on 
horseback. The pisadera is a round enclosure of from 
six to ten yards in diameter, varying, of course, in size 
according to the number of workmen employed, as the 
mud hardens very quickly, and must be used while still 



94 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



moist. The pisaclera is enclosed by posts with rails tied 
round, so as keep the horses inside. It is first of all 
filled with earth to about two feet in depth, the earth 
being taken from the space already cleared, the soil being 
only used to about a foot in depth, that being as far as 
the black earth extends, the subsoil then becoming mixed 
with red sand, which, of course, is quite useless in brick- 
making. The water is drawn up by a horse in a large 
canvas bucket, and poured into the pisadera, until the 
earth seems sufficiently moistened. The horses are then 
turned in, and driven round and round until the cortador 
(brick-cutter) pronounces that it has reached the proper 
consistency for being formed into bricks. While this is 
going on, chopped grass, or straw if it can be obtained, is 
scattered over the composition in order to make the mud 
hold better together. A flat space of ground in the mean- 
time having been prepared close to the pisadera, for mould- 
ing the bricks, the mud when ready is wheeled out in 
barrows, and upset on a hide laid on the ground. The 
cortador has his wooden mould, which makes two bricks at 
a time, laid on the ground before him, and he raises up 
the mud on his arms, having clasped his hands together, 
and drops it into the mould ; he then dips his hand into a 
bucket of water close by, and smooths over the surface, 
removing at the same time the superfluous clay, which he 
puts down close by, ready for the next pair of bricks ; the 
mould is then raised by two handles on the outside, and 
wiped over with a wet rag before being used again, so as 
to prevent the mud sticking to it ; he pulls the hide after 
him as he moves along, placing the bricks in rows of from 
twenty to thirty pairs in length, on the flat space pre- 
pared for them. 

One or two days, if the sun is at all hot, are quite 
enough to dry them sufficiently for setting up on edge, so 
that the other side may be dried. As they are turned all 



BEICK-MAKING. 



95 



the edges are scraped smooth with a knife, and the under 
side pared flat. They are left for another day until dry 
enough to stack. Bricks dried in the sun like this are 
called f adobes,' and are much used for building, but, of 
course, are harder and better when baked, and for a large 
house one would never think of using ( adobes,' but for 
any building of one story, out-buildings, &c, they answer 
very well ; and, of course, it is a great advantage to be 
spared the expense of fuel, a dear article when one is 
forced to bring it all eighty miles in carts. 

A good brick-cutter will often make over two thousand 
bricks in a day, some over three thousand, but this is 
very unusual ; it is extremely hard work, and very tiring 
to the back, as one must stoop quite down to the ground 
to lift the mud on one's clasped hands, and the weight of 
earth thus raised is from thirty to forty pounds each time. 

We contracted with a man to cat our bricks, and paid 
him about thirty shillings per thousand, also giving him 
and his peon beef and yerba. We all tried our hands at 
brick-making, and found it very tiring work, though I 
have occasionally made five hundred bricks in a morning; 
my brother soon gave in, saying his back was too long for 
the work. 

The walls of houses, or enclosure walls, are often con- 
structed of tapia, which is made in the following manner. 
A large wooden frame is put together, open at the top 
and bottom, measuring two yards in length, and about one 
in breadth. The surface earth slightly moistened is thrown 
into this in separate layers, from three to four inches in 
depth, and well pounded with a huge wooden mallet until 
quite hard ; another layer is then added, and so on until 
the frame is full. The frame is fastened together by 
wedges, which are then knocked out, and the base moved 
on to form the next brick, a large hard block being thus 
produced, which becomes almost as impenetrable as adobe. 



96 



PIONEEKING IN THE PAMPAS. 



The tapia is, of course, prepared on the spot intended 
for the wall, as each block weighing something like a ton, 
it would be almost impossible to move them, and their 
own weight keeps them firmly together, cement being 
quite unnecessary. Walls of a house are often begun by 
a layer of tapia, upon the top of which adobes or burnt 
brick can, of course, be built, the tapia forming a very 
solid foundation. Mud is used for mortar, and answers 
very well except for the foundation, and parts round the 
doors and windows, for which lime is employed ; but as 
none is to be had nearer than Cordoba, settlers in the 
pampas are glad to dispense with it as much as possible. 

The brick-making occupied several months, and in the 
meantime we indulged in the most magnificent plans for 
our future house. Walter was the chief architect, and 
threw himself into the business with his usual energy ; 
indeed the accession of our two new partners enabled us 
to contemplate many improvements which would previ- 
ously have been beyond our grasp ; and both taking most 
sanguine views of the prospects of the country, roused us 
from the temporary depression which the late unfortunate 
Indian invasion had produced in the neighbourhood, and 
made us all set to work again with fresh vigour. 

We also wrote home about this time, requesting to 
have a cook and gardener sent out to us, as we were 
heartily tired of acting in the former capacity ourselves, 
and soon heard that two Warwickshire men, one of whom 
I had known all my life, and who proved a most valuable 
acquisition to our party, were on their way out. 

About this time the settlers in the camps round Rosario 
and Frayle Muerto, and in the north of Santa Fe, had 
determined to get up some English races, and the end of 
March had been fixed for the first general meeting, to 
come off at Roldan, a railway station just outside Rosario. 
In the previous September some races on a small scale had 



4 CUTTING CAMP.' 



97 



taken place, and we were all glad of such a good excuse 
for meeting friends and countrymen, which at the distance 
we all lived apart could not often be done. 

Enough money had been raised for four good races, to 
be ridden by gentlemen riders, and managed on a different 
plan from the native races, which appear to an English- 
man to be conducted on very singular principles. We 
all resolved to attend this first general gathering, two of 
us having been invited to act as stewards. Frank, Walter, 
and myself went down by train, but Hume and another 
friend who was staying with us resolved to ride down to 
Rosario, thinking that by this time they were Vaqueanos 
enough to find their way across the camp. They intended 
to pass the first night at a native estancia about sixteen 
leagues from us, not far from Cruzalta, a small village on 
the old post-road, between Saladillo and Rosario. They 
started off across the plain, and at length struck into a 
track leading, as they supposed, to Lobaton, where they 
intended to halt in the middle of the day, but after pur- 
suing it for several hours still saw nothing but a boundless 
extent of fiat green camp stretching away as far as the 
eye could reach. The time at which they ought to have 
arrived at Lobaton was long past, and they at length felt 
certain they had taken a wrong direction, and were wan- 
dering down towards the boundless deserts of the south. 
The only thing to be done was to retrace their steps, and 
ride back exactly as they had come, until they reached 
the spot where they first struck into the track, and where, 
as they now felt convinced, they had turned to the south 
instead of to the north. 

It may seem strange that such a mistake should occur, 
but no one who has not piloted his way over this mono- 
tonous country can imagine how little there is to guide a 
traveller when far away from all dwellings. At the 
time Hume and his companion took the wrong turn, it 

H 



98 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



was about twelve o'clock, and the sun was therefore no 
guide as to which direction they should pursue. They 
resolved to make the best of their way back, but after a 
little time W. suddenly turned to Hume, saying he was 
so tired with the heat and want of water, that he could 
go no farther, but must get off and rest for a short time. 
His companion remonstrated strongly against this, saying 
that their horses were already very tired, and if allowed 
to stop would become too stiff to go any farther, in which 
case they themselves would be in considerable danger, as 
they had completely lost their reckoning as to where they 
were, and could only feel certain that it was many leagues 
from any human habitation, and they were entirely with- 
out water or provisions, both of which it was impossible 
to procure. 

Upon this W. rode on for some distance, but at last 
became so faint from heat and fatigue that it was quite 
impossible for him to proceed ; both therefore dismounted, 
and lay down on the ground close to their horses, who 
were almost as much in need of rest as their masters. W. 
instantly fell asleep ; but Hume, who was less tired, lay 
awake, thinking over his position, nor were his reflections 
of a very cheerful nature. He was many miles from all 
possible help, his companion almost unconscious from 
exhaustion, and the horses likely to prove too tired to go 
a step farther. Both were parched with thirst after their 
many hours' ride beneath a burning sun, and no water 
was to be procured. At one time he thought, as a last 
resource, of trying to shoot some of the deer that appeared 
in the distance, and of sucking their blood. 

After about half-an-hour W. awoke, and told him he 
now felt able to go on. The horses were fortunately not 
too tired to move slowly, so remounting they jogged on. 
By this time it was near eleven p.m., and, the moon 
getting well up, they soon saw at a little distance what 



FIND THE RIVER. 



99 



appeared to be a white mist, but proved, to their great 
delight, to be the Saladillo river. Men and horses drank 
eagerly of the somewhat brackish water, and, with a feel- 
ing of intense relief, prepared to pass the night on the 
bank of the river, heedless of mosquito bites and hungry- 
stomachs. At daybreak they saw the village of Saladillo, 
not a league off, and soon hitting off the i tropa ' road, 
which they had looked for so unsucessfully the previous 
day, rode on to Lobaton, a wretched ( poblacion,' consist- 
ing of three mud ( ranchos.' There they obtained some 
food, principally eggs and melons, but not having tasted 
anything for nearly thirty hours, they were not over 
fastidious. After this adventure they stuck to the post- 
road, avoiding any short cuts through the camp. 

They reached Rosario safely, and told us their adven- 
tures ; upon which we, after the manner of comforters, 
informed them that their misfortunes were all their own 
fault, for not taking our advice and sticking to the post- 
road ; but they must have suffered a great deal from 
heat and thirst, as their faces were for some time quite 
blistered from the effects of the sun. 

The races were a great success, the weather was beau- 
tiful, and a special train to Roldan was organised for the 
day. A good many ladies, both English and Spanish, 
were to be seen in the grand stand, which was very 
cleverly erected by the railway company upon trucks. 
The scene was a very novel and striking one, the gaily- 
dressed Gauchos galloping wildly about in the sunlight, 
which flashed upon the silver trappings of their horses, 
contrasting strongly with the grave black dresses of the 
gentlemen of the upper classes. Altogether it was a very 
cheerful and inspiriting sight. 

The horses were all of the native breed on this occasion, 
though a great effort is now being made to introduce 
some English blood. 

H 2 



100 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



The day after the races a grand dinner was got up by- 
all the English assembled in Rosario, and it was very 
pleasant to see all one's old friends again; we drank 
success to the Rosario Race Club, and to the English 
estancias in the River Plate. On the second day after 
the races we all returned by train to Frayle Muerto, 
Hume not caring for a second ride across the country ; 
and found on reaching Monte Molino that all had been 
going on well, under the care of our worthy capataz Dan 
Mulligan. Lisada had left us a few weeks previously 
to set up on his own account at Frayle Muerto. He 
attended the races, an amusement to which he was very 
partial, bringing with him a certain celebrated Tordillo, 
supposed to have been an Indian racer, but it was not 
successful on this occasion. To console Lisada a little, I 
treated him to some champagne. It astonished him very 
much, but he pronounced it 6 vino muy rico,' a very 
excellent class of wine. 

The horses in the River Plate were, as everyone knows, 
originally introduced by the Spaniards, though they have 
now become so perfectly indigenous that large troops of 
them are to be found towards the south in quite a wild state. 
They are small animals, from fourteen to fifteen hands 
in height, strong and wiry, and capable of doing a great 
deal of work on very little food ; the number of miles they 
will travel in the day, when fed on nothing but grass, is 
very surprising, and I have known them do as much as 
seventy or eighty miles in this manner. Their usual pace 
is a slowish gallop, or else a sort of jog-trot, as they will 
not trot properly unless trained specially for the purpose. 
The way in which they are usually broken is very simple. 
The tropilla of horses is driven into the corral, and the colt 
intended to be broken is caught round the neck with a lasso, 
another lasso is then thrown round his forelegs, by means 
of which he is brought to the ground. His forelegs are 



THE ' DOMADOR.' 



101 



then hobbled, and the recado, or native saddle, is girthed 
upon his back. A strip of hide is forced into his mouth, 
to act as a bit, to which a strong pair of reins are fastened ; 
a firm bozal, or head-stall, is then put on, having a long 
soga, or rope of twisted hide, attached to it. The potro is 
then allowed to regain his feet, and the maneas, or hobbles, 
are taken off. The soga, which is perhaps twenty feet in 
length, is firmly held by a man, who allows the colt to 
gallop to the end of it, and then brings him up with a 
sudden jerk ; after this has been repeated once or twice 
the domador prepares to mount. He first takes off his 
boots, ties a handkerchief firmly round his head, turns up 
his calzoncillas above his knees, so as to get a firm grip 
with his legs, and, while some one tightly holds the potro's 
head, springs into the saddle without touching the stirrups. 
He then grasps the latter (which generally consists only of 
a sort of large leather button) between his great toe and the 
next one (a very painful operation to anyone but a Graucho, 
by the way), and, having settled himself firmly, and made 
ready for a start, he calls out to his companions, i Large,' 
let go. The colt will sometimes walk quietly off, as if 
too much surprised at finding some one on his back to 
make any resistance ; but generally he starts off at a gallop, 
with his head nearly on the ground, bucking so violently 
as to unseat any less-experienced rider. The domador, 
however, takes it very quietly, and sits quite firm through 
it all, flogging the horse violently the whole time, and 
sometimes also chastising him with heavy iron spurs, if he 
happens to be wearing boots and using a rather less pri- 
mitive kind of stirrups. After half an hour's gallop the 
colt is brought back, partially subdued, and tied up for a 
few hours, when he receives a second lesson. This is con- 
tinued for about a week, the horse being tethered, between 
times, to a long rope ; at the end of this time he gene- 
rally becomes tolerably tame ; but some horses, of course, 



102 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



require a longer training. When he is considered suffi- 
ciently tame the heavy iron bit of the country is put into 
his mouth, and he is called a redamon, half-broken horse, 
until he is considered properly broken and will obey the 
reins ; he is then called a cavallo. This very rough way 
of breaking-in is, of course, extremely bad for horses, 
spoiling both their tempers and their mouths, and generally 
making them timid, besides frequently laming them by 
the rough process of throwing them; and the English 
settlers now often break-in valuable colts themselves, 
preferring this to allowing the natives to maltreat them, 
as they almost invariably do. 

The feeling between the Graucho and his horse is not 
at all like that between the Arab and his steed, unless 
violent blows over the head, whenever the poor animal 
does not quite satisfy his master, are a proof of affection. 
Horses are never shod, except in the towns, as it is quite 
unnecessary out in the camp. There are a most curious 
variety of colours among the Argentine horses, quite 
unlike anything ever seen in Europe ; they would be quite 
invaluable for Astley's, and indeed I believe some have 
been brought over for circuses. The natives, instead of 
giving names to their horses, always call them by their 
colours, the immense number of different shades prevent- 
ing confusion; and they would speak of their tordillo 
(grey), azuleco (blue, a sort of slate-colour quite unknown 
out of the Argentine Republic), Colorado (red), and a 
hundred others. Some of the horses, if kept close to the 
house and kindly treated, will get very tame, and know 
their masters quite well. Horses have increased very 
much in value during the last few years. A very good 
horse could be bought for from 17. to 1/. 10s. when I first 
went out, but now nothing worth having can be got 
under 3Z. ; and the natives, seeing that the English have 
money and are willing to pay, ask more of them than 



HORSE-DEALING CUSTOMS. 



103 



they would of one another ; for anything unusually good 
they will ask as much as from 101. to 151. Mares, as a 
rule, are never ridden. There is quite as much trickery 
in horse-dealing in the River Plate as in other countries; 
and the Indian invasions cause horses to change hands so 
frequently that one is rather liable to buy stolen animals. 
To guard against this all horses are marked, and no one 
has a right to sell a horse unless he can prove that the 
mark is really his own, or produce a paper, signed by some 
judge, to show that the horse is his property ; and when 
one sells a horse it is necessary either to give the paper 
or put on a counter-mark, i.e. one's own mark a second 
time, and the buyer can then add his own brand. If 
these precautions are neglected, and the rightful owner 
turns up, the horse is obliged to be restored ; and if, as is 
generally the case, the seller is not forthcoming, the money 
is lost. New comers are not always aware of this rule, 
and my brother's delight at his first purchase of a South 
American horse was much damped by discovering, in the 
course of a few days, that he had bought a well-known 
racer, stolen by some one or other, and he was, of course, 
obliged to relinquish his steed to the rightful owner. 
Hume was also a little taken in during his first few weeks 
in the country ; having one day to come out alone from 
Erayle Muerto, he got a horse from the post-house, upon 
which he started. After a few leagues his horse began 
to show symptoms of fatigue ; and after getting him on a 
few miles farther, by dint of violent flogging and spurring, 
the old mancaron * refused to move at all, and Hume was 
forced to dismount and walk, leading his exhausted steed. 
Walking in the Pampas is not very amusing, especially in 
the height of summer, and he several times put his revolver 
to the horse's head, feeling half inclined to revenge himself 
on the annoying animal, who followed quite at his ease, 

* Mancaron, old screw. 



104 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



but refused to move a step when mounted ; he reflected, 
however, that if he killed the horse he should be obliged 
to carry the saddle and bridle himself, and, restraining his 
wrath, after an exhausting walk of ten or twelve miles 
he at length reached Monte Molino, not in the best of 
humours. He sent the horse back by a peon ; and the 
next time he was in Frayle Muerto went to the post- 
master to relieve his feelings ; and, his stock of Spanish 
being then small, took out his revolver to explain to the 
man how he had felt inclined to shoot the horse. The 
' alarmed postmaster's guilty conscience made him suppose 
the revolver was intended for himself, and he instantly 
fled from the supposed assassin ; and, let us hope, profited 
by the lesson. 



105 



CHAPTEK XI. 

DESCRIPTION OP NATIVE SADDLE AND DEESS— SAD DEATH OF TWO 
ENGLISHMEN — M.'S DANGEROUS ADVENTURE WITH THE INDIANS. 

Before quitting the subject of horses in the River Plate, 
I ought, I think, to give a short description of the native 
saddle used by the Grauchos, as well as of the dress of the 
Gauchos themselves, which I believe I have not yet men- 
tioned. The native saddle or recado is a great load to put 
on a horse ; very often weighing more than sixty pounds, 
with all its component parts. It varies according to the 
taste or means of the owner. The great advantage it has 
over an English saddle is, that when anyone on a journey 
is provided with a good recado and poncho, he has always 
a bed ready when he stops for the night ; most English- 
men, however, ride on an ordinary saddle, carrying their 
blankets rolled up in front, a recado not being comfort- 
able unless one is wearing the native dress. The recado 
is made up of several saddle-cloths, or sheepskins, put 
next to the horse's back ; above these come two earonas, 
of raw hide, and one of leather, stamped into patterns 
with a hot iron. The caronas are about four feet long, 
and two wide, with a division in the middle, so that they 
hang across the horse's back, with an equal part on each 
side. Above these comes the recado, which is, so to speak, 
the saddle itself. This is made of wood, covered with 
leather, with a sort of peak before and behind, or in many 
cases it is nothing but two long rolls of straw covered with 



106 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



leather, lying one along each side of the horse's back. 
The whole of this paraphernalia is made fast by a broad 
hide girth called the cincha. This is made of two parts, 
one of 'which goes across the top of the recado, and the 
longer part underneath the horse. The two parts, to the 
end of each of which is attached a strong iron ring, are 
then made fast by a strip of hide, called the correan. The 
horse can be girthed up very tight by this means, which 
is very necessary, as it is to a ring attached to the upper 
part of the cincha that the lasso is made fast, and from 
this ring carts are pulled, instead of from the collar. A 
horse cannot, of course, get so much purchase from the 
girths as from the collar, and Englishmen, therefore, use 
the ordinary harness, but the natives still stick to their 
old-fashioned way, and all the native horse-carts are made 
with a single hole instead of with shafts. The mode of 
pulling by the cincha is, however, very convenient, as 
when anything that must be dragged along, such as a 
heavy log, for instance, has to be moved, a horse is at- 
tached to the load, and the desired object is easily effected. 
Above the cincha comes the cojinillo, which is made of 
wool of any colour. For ordinary work two or three 
sheepskins are laid across the recado, and made fast by a 
narrow strip of hide called a cinchon. The cojinillo may, 
however, cost almost any price, according to the fancy of 
the rider ; and on great days the natives appear with very 
handsome ones, and with recados mounted with silver, 
their stirrups, and large spurs, being also of the same 
metal. Above the cojinillo, a small piece of well-softened 
leather, such as the hide of a carpincho, or river-pig, or 
the skin of some small animal, such as a fox, biscacha, 
&c, is generally placed, and is called the sobre pnesto. 

A party of Grauchos on a feast day, or some great occa- 
sion, such as races, riding at the sortija, &c, is a very 
picturesque sight. 



COSTUME OF THE GAUCHO. 



107 



Riding at the sortija is a very favourite game with the 
natives on holidays, and is carried on in the following 
manner. A small ring is suspended by a thread, and the 
competitors, with a short stick in their hands, ride at it at 
full gallop, and try to carry off the ring on the point of 
the stick ; this, of course, requires great skill, and a suc- 
cessful tilter is greeted with much applause, receiving a 
ring as the prize of his skill. 

It adds greatly to the brightness of the scene to see the 
spectators with their gaily coloured shirts, and broad belts 
covered with silver dollars, long knives, and horse-trap- 
pings, some of them quite covered with silver, as they 
generally carry all their wealth about them. The native 
dress consists of a loose pair of calzoncillas, or drawers, 
worked at the bottom, and edged with fringe, above which 
is worn a garment called a chiripa, in shape like a shawl ; 
the two ends of this are fastened with a sash round the 
waist, the middle part hanging down like a bag, and 
forming a sort of very loose trowsers. The chiripa, which 
may be made of any sort of materials, such as wool, cotton, 
alpaca, or cloth, is of bright colours, woven in stripes, but 
the kind generally considered the smartest is made of 
black cloth edged with scarlet, and looks very well over 
a pair of white calzoncillas, with a red shirt above it. 
Patent leather boots with red or green tops are worn on 
great occasions, but on ordinary days boots of untanned 
leather, made from the skin of the hind legs of a mare, are 
much used. 

The hock forms the heel, and the leg is cut off just above 
the fetlock joint, so that when the skin has been cut 
through at the top of the leg, the whole of it can be drawn 
off like a glove. The hair is scraped off, and the boot 
rubbed by hand until it becomes almost as soft as kid. 
The toe is thus, of course, open, and can be sewn up if 
the wearer wishes, but a large brown toe is generally seen 



108 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



protruding. The boots have to be tied up above the calf 
with garters, as they do not fit closely. 

As a Gaucho has no pockets in any of his clothes, he 
always wears a broad leather belt, called a tirador, with 
pockets in it, which contain all his necessaries — tobacco, 
paper for cigarettes, and a flint and steel ; a long knife is 
stuck in behind ; and with a handkerchief tied loosely 
round his neck, or round his head just below his hat, his 
boleadores tied in front of his saddle, or slung round his 
waist, and his lasso coiled up behind him, his costume is 
complete. 

The boleadores, which are used for catching wild horses, 
ostriches, or deer, consist of two large balls of wood or 
stone, covered with hide, to which are attached two strips 
of hide of an equal length, varying f"om three to four 
feet ; to the end of these two strips is fastened a third strip 
with a smaller ball at the end of it. This ball is held in 
the hand, the boleadores are swung round the head and 
thrown by the Gaucho when at full gallop, at the animal 
that is to be captured. The object is to strike the hind 
legs, when the pace at which the animal is going makes 
the balls swing round and round until the legs are tied 
tightly together, when the prisoner soon falls to the 
ground. Small balls of lead or iron are used for 
ostriches and deer. 

It takes a great deal of practice to be able to catch a 
particular colt or mare out of a large troop of animals 
galloping close together. 

The native dress is very comfortable in hot weather, 
and we often wore it in the camp ; it has also the great 
merit of cheapness, and stands the many rough occupations 
a settler is forced to engage in, better than broadcloth 
and fustian. 

During the time of our race meeting at Rosario a 
great damp was thrown over our enjoyment by the sudden 



SAD NEWS FROM MENDOZA. 



109 



arrival of news of the murder of two Englishmen, much 
liked by us all. They were brothers : the eldest, a man 
of good property, had only come out to the country for 
a visit, his health being delicate, and travelling recom- 
mended for it ; but the younger was intending to settle 
somewhere in South America. They had both been 
travelling about the country for some time, and with two 
other companions had before had a very narrow escape 
from the Indians. 

On this last occasion they had started up the country 
from Rosario with a number of mules, bought in Entre 
Eios, intending to sell them in the upper provinces. 
Mendoza and San Juan were at this time in a very dis- 
turbed state, and travelling there was really dangerous 
unless with an ex+remely strong party. All their friends 
had tried to dissuade them from the expedition, advising 
them to defer it till things were a little more settled, but 
they were determined to go, being both very courageous, 
and, as it unhappily proved, underrating the danger. They 
had nearly reached San Juan in safety, when about the 
middle of the day on which this sad event occurred, while 
riding on ahead in search of a good place to rest in during 
the heat, they suddenly came upon a party of montoneros, 
the name given to the inhabitants of the sierras, who are 
at all times rather turbulent, and were just then very 
active in the revolution that was going on. These men 
were seated round a fire taking mate, and invited the two 
brothers to join them, an invitation which they at once 
accepted, not in the least suspecting any treachery. 
While they were all sitting quietly together in this 
manner the montoneros suddenly turned upon them, and, 
in spite of a desperate resistance made by the two brothers, 
although they had been taken quite unawares, they were 
both killed, after having shot several of their cowardly 
assailants. A Frenchman who was with them was also 



110 PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



left on the ground for dead, but being afterwards found 
by some friendly natives, recovered from his wounds, and 
made his way back to Rosario, where he related these sad 
particulars. Both brothers had many friends, and their 
untimely fate was a great shock to us all. 

They had some months before had a most narrow escape 
from the following dangerous position. 

In company with two other friends, they had started 
on an expedition towards the Indian territory lying to the 
south-west of the province of Cordoba, near the Andes, 
intending to try whether they could not commence a 
trade with the Indians. They took with them several 
mules laden with aguardiente (a strong coarse kind of 
spirit), meaning to exchange it for cattle. When near 
one of the southern passes to Chili they fell in with a 
party of Indians, who seemed quite friendly ; they there- 
fore gave them some presents, and told them their object. 
After staying a few days in the same place a great many 
more Indians collected, and encamped near, coming up 
constantly to ask for more spirits, which they at last 
refused to give, as they did not see much chance of getting 
any cattle in return. They now began to suspect they 
had got into a trap, and resolved to make their position as 
strong as possible. They were encamped close to a stream, 
upon rocky ground, with bushes near, and made as good a 
fortification as they could round their encampment, with 
rocks, bushes, and mule packs, and being well armed, they 
knew the Indians would not like to attack them. They 
remained like this for about ten days, the Indians coming 
up constantly to demand spirits, &c, which they refused 
to give. At night they could see their unwelcome neigh- 
bours squatting round their fires eating their disgusting 
supper of raw liver,* made palatable by little bits of salt ; 

* Raw liver is a great Indian delicacy, as they generally roast the rest 
of their meat, except when on the march, when they are content to eat it raw. 



DANGEROUS POSITION. 



Ill 



and their appearance in the firelight, smeared all over 
with blood, often quarrelling and fighting among them- 
selves, was quite demoniacal. The two Englishmen's po- 
sition was becoming very unpleasant, as their provisions 
were gradually coming to an end, and it was impossible 
for them to get safely away. They were just meditating 
a desperate effort in a retreat on foot, the Indians having 
got hold of all their horses and mules, when one day, to 
their great joy, a Chilian officer with a company of soldiers 
suddenly appeared. The wily Indians, not liking the look 
of their firearms, yet being resolved to make something 
out of their prisoners, had sent across to the Chilian au- 
thorities to say that they had surrounded some Spanish 
spies. The Englishmen soon convinced the officer as to 
who and what they were, upon which he kindly offered 
them an escort across the Andes, obliging the Indians, on 
the threat of not allowing them to trade with the Chilians, 
to give up some of their horses and mules, with which 
they gladly quitted the spot. The Indians had expected 
a great feast at their departure, as from the reduced 
number of their mules they could not carry off much of 
the aguardiente, but to their great disappointment the 
Englishmen piled all the demajuanas (a large glass bottle 
covered with wicker, and containing three or four gallons) 
in a heap, and set fire to them and their packs, not leaving 
the place until all were burnt. 

Our enterprising neighbour, M., who, as I have before 
mentioned, had several times been down to Rio Cuarto to 
purchase sheep for the different settlers round Frayle 
Muerto, was just about to start on another expedition 
there. We commissioned him, therefore, to bring us up 
one hundred and fifty head of cattle to keep for our own 
consumption, our increased numbers making this quite 
necessary, as we did not wish to kill our sheep, and were 
too large a party to depend any longer on game, or 



112 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



the unmarked cattle we occasionally picked up that had 
escaped from the Indians. Rio Cuarto, lying as it did 
so far to the south, being about twenty leagues from 
Sauce, and situated on the frontier, was very subject to 
Indian invasions, a month very seldom passing without 
the inhabitants being favoured with a visit from them, 
as it was a great place for breeding horses, cattle, and 
sheep. 

M., in one of his previous trips, caught sight of the 
Indians in the distance, as he was returning with some 
sheep. They were, however, so much occupied as either 
not to see, or not to care to attend to him. As soon as 
he saw them he drove his flock into a hollow, and waited 
there rather anxiously until they were out of sight. They 
passed at some distance, but not too far for him to see them 
clearly, and even hear their shouts. The peons who were 
with him had ridden off at the first alarm, and hidden 
themselves, leaving him to his fate. 

He started on his present expedition about the begin- 
ning of March, and returned with the cattle after about 
a month's absence, having met with the following adven- 
ture. He safely reached Rio Cuarto, and had been there 
a few days, when about two hundred Indians made their 
appearance outside the town. The Comandante got 
together as many men as he could, about fifty or sixty 
in all, to go out against them, and M. determined to go 
also. They rode out to meet the Indians, M. and the 
Comandante being in front, but as soon as they were within 
four or five hundred yards of the enemy, who were gal- 
loping down towards them, they suddenly perceived, on 
looking round, that all their soldiers had turned, and 
were making a rapid retreat to the river, on the other side 
of which was the town. Being only two against two 
hundred, they were, of course, obliged to follow their 
example; both, happily, were well mounted, and soon 



A CLOSE SHAVE FOR M. 



113 



overtook their flying squadron, and no persuasion being 
able to prevail upon them to turn and face the enemy, it 
became a case of sauve qui peut. The river, from which 
the town takes its name, was about a mile off, and they 
made for it as fast as they could. The banks here were 
in most parts eight or ten feet high, and there were only 
one or two places where it was possible to ride down to 
the water. Below the barranca (bank) was a space of 
some hundred yards or so, before the water, of very rough 
and uneven ground. M., finding he was hardly pressed 
by the Indians, instead of making for the place where he 
could ride down, jumped over the bank, two men close 
to him having had their throats cut, their heads being 
nearly severed from their bodies ; not a very pleasant 
sight, especially as he might judge what his fate would be 
if overtaken. The Indians, however, seemed unwilling to 
come to extremities with him, not liking the look of his 
revolver, which he kept in his hand, as a last resource, 
being resolved to sell his life as dearly as possible. After 
jumping down the barranca, his horse put his foot in a hole, 
and, rolling over, pitched him off over his head, and broke 
away from him down to the river. He now thought it 
was all over with him, but the Comandante called out to 
him to hold on to his stirrup-leather ; and in this way both 
reached the water, where M. caught his horse, and re- 
mounted, and both crossing to the other bank, were soon 
in safety, as several men had come down there with rifles, 
ready to defend the bank, at which sight the Indians re- 
treated, having killed some five or six soldiers in the way 
I have mentioned. After this they returned to their own 
territory, but a dreadful retribution awaited them on the 
way, as having to pass close by Rio Quinto, another 
small town on the frontier, the Comandante of that place 
sallied out with a strong body of men, and surprising the 

I 



114 



PIOKEEBIMt in the pampas. 



Indians in a hollow, while asleep, managed to kill some 
fifty or sixty of them, besides recapturing all the cattle 
and mares that they were carrying off with them. M. 
returned from this dangerous expedition about the end 
of March. 



115 



CHAPTEK XII. 

EIEST APPEAEANCE OF CHOLEEA — CATTLE-MAEKING SALADEEO — ■ 
EUNAWAT ANIMALS. 

During the summer which had just come to an end, the 
cholera had made its appearance, for the first time, as 
far as I am aware, in the River Plate, and had been very 
prevalent both in Rosario and Buenos Ayres. It was 
supposed to have come down the river from the allied 
forces engaged in the Paraguayan war, who had been 
suffering very severely from disease, occasioned by bad 
food and exposure to damp. These constant attacks of 
cholera and fever had more than decimated the army, and 
great fears were of course entertained as to the havoc that 
such an epidemic as cholera might make in the towns. 
The natives, and especially the lower class of them, who 
live in small filthy ranchos on, the outskirts of Bosario, 
had been the chief sufferers, and hardly any cases of 
cholera had appeared among the foreigners and better-fed 
natives. 

Our well-known and popular consul, Mr. Hutchinson, 
exerted himself in the most devoted and praiseworthy 
manner to afford relief to the sick ; and owing to his 
exertions a temporary hospital was erected, which was 
soon crowded with patients. 

At the time of the races, the cooler weather having 
begun, the cholera abated ; and there were no fresh cases 
until the following summer, when it again raged 3 with 
much greater violence. 

I 2 



116 



PIOjS"EEKINGt IN" THE PAMPAS. 



Upon our return to Monte Molino, immediately after 
our pleasant race meeting, we found that M. had just 
arrived with the cattle from Rio Cuarto. As part of 
them were for our neighbours at Monte de la Lena, we 
at once let them know of their arrival, that they might 
come over with their peons as soon as possible, to separate 
their own cattle from ours, and to mark them. 

Cattle-marking in South America is one of the great 
events of the year, and is, I think, one of the most 
exciting incidents connected with a settler's life. Many 
persons have probably read accounts of cattle-marking in 
other books, but a word or two on the subject may not, 
perhaps, be out of place here. The Australian cattle- 
marking is, no doubt, very exciting sport, and requires 
great skill and nerve, but the picturesque-looking Gaucho, 
whirling his lasso round his head, and throwing it with 
unerring aim, adds an indescribable wildness to the whole 
scene. The cattle are not usually confined in corrals, but 
are accustomed to come up every night on to the rodeo, a 
large bare spot where they sleep, and it is here that the 
branding takes place. 

When the yearly marking is about to begin, notice is 
given to the neighbouring estancieros, that they may 
come over with their peons, to pick out any of their own 
cattle which may have joined the other herd. The cattle 
are driven up to the rodeo, and the peons then begin to 
catch the young beasts that are to be marked. One 
having been selected, the peon throws his lasso over its 
horns, no easy matter when a beast is young and has very 
short ones ; but greater command can be obtained over 
the animal in this manner than by lassoing it round the 
neck. A very young calf, however, must, of course, be 
caught round the neck, as it has no horns. As soon as 
the beast is fast by the head, another peon rides up to 
him, and lassoes him round the hind legs — a much more 



CATTLE-MARKING. 



117 



difficult operation. He is then pulled up to the fire, 
where the branding irons are being heated ; the two peons 
gallop in different directions, and the unfortunate beast 
is thrown heavily on his side. The men at the fire next 
seize him, and while one holds the head of the animal 
firmly, the other applies the red-hot brand, until the mark 
is sufficiently burnt in, when the lasso round the horns is 
cast loose. The animal is then allowed to rise, the lasso 
round the hind legs being kept tight until he gallops off 
in the direction of the herd, upon which the peon rides 
after him, and allowing the lasso to slacken, it soon falls 
off, and another victim is selected. 

As we had only about two hundred to brand, we tied 
their legs, when they were pulled close to the fire, so that 
four or five could be marked before the iron got cold. 
They were then untied, and let loose. The last operation 
is not unattended with danger, when this little attention 
is paid to a bull who has had his temper ruffled by a good 
deal of previous driving, followed up by the soothing 
application of a red-hot iron. On this occasion, one of 
our peons, Manuel, having released a cow, laid himself 
down behind her, thinking that she would be glad to rejoin 
her companions. She turned, however, and commenced 
a violent assault upon him, tearing his shirt and already 
somewhat dilapidated calzoncillos, and attempting to horn 
him. I galloped at her, to divert her attention, upon 
which she turned her attack upon my horse, who not 
being equally quick at turning, narrowly escaped getting 
a horn into his flank ; but Manuel in the meantime made 
good his retreat, and got away only with a fright. 

Horses when branded are, of course, thrown with 
greater care, and the operation takes place in a corral. 
Valuable horses are generally only hobbled, and receive 
the brand quietly. 

At the finish up of a cattle-marking a great delicacy 



118 



PIONEEKINGr IN THE PAMPAS. 



is provided for the peons — ( came con cuero] i. e. an 
animal roasted in its hide. This is considered an excellent 
dish, and when cold is especially good. The Gaucho is 
seen to great advantage on these occasions, his appetite 
being almost beyond belief. 

Frank had a peon in Entre Rios who at a sheep-shear- 
ing has been known to devour a whole sheep. Not 
wishing to be regarded as a second Munchausen, I may 
as well add that our active sheep do not weigh quite as 
much as those who have led a contemplative life in 
English fields. 

Cattle-breeding, when the land is fitted for it, is one 
of the most paying concerns in the whole country ; and 
our estate being particularly suitable for the purpose, 
from the abundance of rich pasture and constant supply 
of water, it was very trying to be prevented from engaging 
in it, on any considerable scale, by the constant fear of 
Indians; but we still look forward to a halcyon time, 
when Indians shall be unknown in the land, and countless 
herds seen round Monte Molino. 

The great markets for cattle are, of course, the Sala- 
deros, which are situated on the outskirts of all the larger 
towns, and where the cattle are handed over by their 
owners to the proprietors of these establishments. 

At the risk of repeating what has been better told 
before, I must here add a short account of what I have 
myself seen at a saladero in Buenos Ayres. The cattle 
are often brought in from a great distance — frequently as 
much as fifty or sixty leagues — at a tremendous pace, and 
so do not, as may be imagined,, arrive in a very fat con- 
dition. They are driven into a large pen, having an 
entrance made out of it into a smaller pen, shaped like a 
funnel. A sufficient number of animals to fill the smaller 
pen are urged into it, and the work of destruction then 
begins. The chief executioner, or capataz, stands on a 



WHOLESALE SLAUGHTER. 



119 



raised platform at the side of the pen, with a thick lasso 
in his hand, one end of which runs through a pulley, and 
is then attached to the girths of two mounted horses. The 
capataz then throws the lasso round the horns of one or 
two animals, and calls out to the horsemen, who start off 
at a sharp pace, hauling the captured beasts to the narrow 
end of the pen. He also then walks to the end of the 
pen, stoops over, and with a skarp knife piths the animal, 
that is, just divides the spinal cord. The victim drops 
dead upon a truck, which is waiting to receive his body, 
the lasso is slipped off the horns, and the truck, which 
runs on a tramway, hauled under a long shed, the carcase 
being there rolled off, and the truck immediately pushed 
back ready for the next subject. The throat of the dead 
animal is cut, to let the blood out, and the skin stripped 
off, almost by magic. The limbs are then cut off, and all 
the meat cut from the body, in thin slices, which are 
wheeled away to the salting-house, where they are placed 
in alternate layers of meat and salt. After the meat has 
remained in this state for some time, it is taken out, and 
hung up to dry, after which it is piled in large stacks, 
until shipped off to the Brazils and West Indies, where 
great quantities are consumed by the black population, 
negroes being, apparently, the only people able to eat it. 
It has been tried in England, but was not much relished 
there, which I do not much wonder at, as it is anything 
but tempting in appearance. The process of catching, 
killing, skinning, and cutting up the animal, takes less 
time than I have taken to describe it in, for I have timed 
one of the skinners, who, from the time the animal was 
brought into the shed until he was skinned and his four legs 
cut off, was not five minutes at his work. It is simply 
wonderful to watch the rapidity with which their knives 
go, and they never seem to cut a hole in the hides, for if 
they do, a certain amount is deducted from their wages 



120 PIOXEEEIXG IX THE PAMPAS. 

for each cut made. The bones are boiled down in huge 
boilers, in order that the fat may be extracted from them ; 
and they are then either burnt for bone-ash or shipped 
whole to be used in England or other countries ; the 
hoofs and horns, of course, being also kept and made 
useful. 

On the whole, the aspect of a salad ero, as may be 
imagined, is not a very pleasant one, but it is a sight that 
ought to be seen by every traveller in the River Plate. 
At some of the largest of these establishments, over a 
thousand head of cattle are slaughtered in a day ; and as 
there are a good many saladeros at work for several 
months in the year, one may realise what thousands of 
animals are killed annually. Mares are also destroyed, 
in the same wholesale manner, for their fat, bones, and 
hides ; but a restriction has been put upon the mare- 
killing business, from a reasonable fear that horses might 
become scarce if such large numbers of mares were 
slaughtered. Crowds of fierce-looking dogs may be seen 
snarling and growling at each other, contending for the 
scraps of offal, at the saladeros ; and gaunt, hungry 
pigs also abound, but their appearance is quite sufficient 
to make one shun pork carefully in Buenos Ayres. It is 
quite as well to arm oneself with a stick or whip when on a 
visit to one of these establishments, to keep off the attacks 
of dogs, who are apt to fly at one's legs. The chief work- 
men in the saladeros seem to be Basques, from the 
Pyrenees, of whom there are a very great number in 
Buenos Ayres, as well as in the camp, where they make 
very good shepherds, and work hard and steadily. The 
smell of the salting-houses is not very agreeable, and in the 
town of Buenos Ayres itself, when the wind blows from 
Barracas, where they are situated, the stench is insuffer- 
able, especially when the bones are being burnt for bone- 
ash, but it is said to be very wholesome. We made 



EXTR ACTUM CARXIS. 



121 



a party of five or six to go down to see the saladeros, as 
time is apt to hang rather heavy on hand in Buenos 
Ay res. 

A railway now runs from the town to the Boca, the 
port from which all the salted meat, &c, is shipped ; but 
at the time of which I am speaking it was not finished, 
and we went down to Barracas (a store) by diligence. 
Many attempts have been made to prepare the meat pro- 
perly for exportation ; and, if this could be done, no doubt 
very large fortunes might be made ; but one can hardly 
expect meat to be worth much, when the animals killed 
are so tired that they can hardly move, and have little or 
no fat on them. 

Liebig's extractum carnis is, however, very good, and 
there is no doubt that, in a short time, some better plan 
for preserving meat will be found out, so that it will 
become much cheaper in England. 

Senor Sarmiento, who is now the president of the 
Argentine Republic — a very clever and enlightened man, 
to whom we confidently look for many reforms — has 
offered a large reward to anyone who can find out a really 
successful method for salting or otherwise preserving 
beef, so that it may be fit to be imported into England. 
Australian beef, as my readers know, is now sent to Eng- 
land in great quantities, and why not South American ? 

A new scheme has been started for bringing live stock 
to England, and the monopoly granted by the Argentine 
Government to an English gentleman, a friend of mine, 
who is the chief mover in the matter. And, if it can be 
made to pay, it will, of course, be a source of great wealth 
to the speculators ; but time alone can show the result. 

We may, however, reasonably expect to be able to 
compete with the Australians, in bringing preserved meat 
to England from the River Plate, our greater nearness to 
home being so much in our favour. 



122 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS, 



Just after we had finished our cattle-marking — the 
animals from Rio Cuarto not having arrived in very good 
condition for killing, and we being rather short of meat — 
Hume and one of the Monte de la Lena party, who also 
wanted to buy a few beasts for the same purpose, went 
over together to a small cattle estancia on the banks of 
the Rio Tercero, between Saladillo and Frayle Muerto. 
There they picked out a few fat bullocks, which Hume 
and a peon who was with him got safely up to Monte 
Molino, arriving in the evening from Monte de la Lena, 
where he had passed the previous night, so as to bring 
the beasts home slowly. We fastened them, as we thought, 
safely into the corral, securing the entrance, according to 
custom, by placing several large wooden bars across it ; 
but when we went to inspect our new purchases, at day- 
break, they were nowhere to be seen, having broken out 
of the corral and made their escape. 

We guessed that they had returned to their former abode, 
as cattle and horses have always to become querenchiados, 
that is, accustomed to one place, before they will take to 
it; and, when bought and transferred to a distance, they 
will, unless looked sharply after by day and shut up at 
night, return to their former home. Hume, therefore, 
again started off in pursuit of the runaways, and found 
them, as he expected, at their old residence, about eight 
leagues off ; he could tell, by tracing them, that they had 
made their way quite straight across the camp, instead of 
returning by Monte de la Lena, the round-about road by 
which they had come, exercising a curious instinct, which 
they seem to possess in common with dogs and cats, and 
showing themselves better vaqueaiws than some of their 
owners, the latter only acquiring this power after a long 
residence in the country. Hume brought them back, and 
they were again shut in, and this time with more pre- 
caution than before. The next morning they had again 



REFRACTORY CATTLE. 



123 



vanished^ having on this occasion, as they were unable to 
break through the bars, actually leapt or scrambled over a 
height of five or six feet. A third time they were brought 
back, and it was only by keeping a constant guard over 
them for several days that we were at last able to retain 
them. 

After these constant gallops across the Pampas they 
were not much stouter than the Rio Cuarto herd. It is 
better, when buying a quantity of cattle, to bring them 
from a long distance, as they will not then attempt to 
return to their former querenchia* 



124 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

"WE BEGIN TO BUILD OUK HOUSE — ILLNESS — I GO TO LAS ROSAS AND 
BUENOS AYRES — PATAGONES AND PATAGONIANS — CIVILISED ESTAN- 
CIAS — BUENOS ATKEAN RACES — DEPARTURE OE ERIENDS EOR 
EUROPE. 

The cattle-marking being now happily concluded, we 
turned all our attention to our new house. The brick- 
making had gone on vigorously all this time, and a well 
had been sunk close to the spot we had chosen for building 
on. This new site was a mile from the iron house, and, 
of course, the move seemed a great pity in many ways, 
as all the ditches, enclosures, &c, had to be made over 
again, and we lost the benefit of our montecito (small 
group of trees), there not being a vestige of anything 
taller than a blade of grass on the new site. On the 
whole, however, we felt we should do better to move, in 
spite of all these objections, as the much nearer neigh- 
bourhood of the river would be an immense advantage, 
and it would also serve as a boundary on one side to our 
new enclosures, which we intended to begin on a much 
larger scale. The newly-chosen spot was also higher 
ground than our first settlement, and would, therefore, 
give us a better view of the country, which the possibility 
of Indian attacks made a great desideratum. Having 
fully resolved on the move, we determined to lose no time 
in making it. 

I was, however, obliged to leave my companions to do 
most of the work, being laid up with a slight attack of 
illness, and though just able to get about, it was in a 



PLEASANT INCIDENT FOE AN INVALID. 



125 



feeble sort of way. An invalid in the camp is rather a 
miserable being. I don't know how gipsies may feel when 
ill, but I can say, from experience, that a sick settler is 
certainly not a person to be envied. I had been ill about a 
week, and was lying on my bed in the iron house, rather late 
one evening, when, the house-door being partly open, which, 
indeed, was its normal state, some four-footed creature 
suddenly rushed in and concealed itself under my bed, 
having just excited a tremendous commotion as it passed 
the dogs, by biting a small puppy who was curled up in 
an inoffensive manner, no way provoking any attack. 
The whole indignant pack rushed at the intruder, who 
was shortly despatched ; and, his corpse being extracted 
from beneath my bed, he proved to be a fox, who was 
most likely prowling about in search of a stray cock or 
hen, the South American foxes being quite as partial to 
poultry as the English ones. 

We kept his skin as a memento of the circumstance, but 
these kind of incidents not being very favourable to the 
recovery of a patient, my companions strongly pressed me 
to go down to Rosario for better advice and more com- 
fortable nursing than could be had in the camp ; which, 
after a vain endeavour to shake off the attack without 
leaving home, I at length did. My brother accompanied 
me, and I was soon comfortably lodged in the Hotel de 
la Paz. Here my illness turned to a sort of fever, which 
kept me for about a fortnight in bed, and the worst being 
then over, I was soon well enough to get out to my 
friends at Las Rosas, where every care was taken of me, 
and I led a luxurious life. I had been here a few days 
when a neighbouring estanciero arrived from Rosario, and 
informed me that he had come up in the train with two 
Englishmen, who were on their way to Monte Molino, 
and whom I, of course, knew to be the gardener and cook 
that we had for some time been expecting from T vVarwick- 



126 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



shire. I was very glad to hear of their having reached 
Rosario safely, and a few days later to receive letters from 
my brother announcing their arrival, having felt a little 
anxiety' as to how they would manage their journey up 
the country. - ^ 

Don Pepe, who knew they were coming, received them 
at the fonda, and put them in the way of getting horses 
and a guide to our estancia. They were also, I believe, 
welcomed at the fonda by our old assistant, Jack the second, 
who passed much of his time there when his finances ad- 
mitted of it ; indeed, he was generally known in Frayle 
Muerto by the name of El chupador, the meaning of which 
I leave to my intelligent readers to discover. In some 
of his lucid moments, I imagine, he made out who the 
newcomers were, and interpreted Don Pepe's directions 
to them. J ack had by this time finally quitted us, as we 
really could not put up with him any longer. I was still 
at Las Rosas when rumours not particularly calculated 
to cheer a convalescent reached me, of the Indians having 
been up to Monte Molino, and having again swept off most 
of our horses. This intelligence made me rather anxious, 
until I got letters from my brother a few days later, telling 
me that the Indians had really been again in our neigh- 
bourhood, but that we had this time escaped a visit from 
our old friends. Our neighbours at Monte de la Lena 
had, however, not been so fortunate, and when I saw James 
W. a little later, he gave me the following account of his 
first sight of the Indians. 

The new azotea (house) at Monte de la Lena was now 
complete, and besides the usual occupants, T. had invited 
a young Englishman and his wife, lately arrived in the 
country, to stay with him until they had some better 
place to take a lady to than the fonda in Frayle Muerto. 
On the eventful morning in question B. was the first 

* See note at the end of the chapter. 



THE INDIANS AGAIN, 



127 



stirring in the house, and while dressing, just at daybreak, 
chanced to look out of the window, when he suddenly 
perceived a number of men surrounding the house. He 
instantly called up the rest of the party, who, of course, 
saw at once that the intruders must be Indians, and 
having snatched up the first weapons within reach, they all 
mounted to the roof of the house, from whence they pro- 
ceeded to fire upon the invaders. The Indians had, how- 
ever, by this time begun to retreat, driving off with them 
most of the horses, and none of the shots took effect. The 
whole scene must have presented rather a ludicrous ap- 
pearance had there been any spectators sufficiently un- 
concerned to be amused at it ; and James W., while telling 
me about it, laughed a good deal at the recollection of 
the besieged party very lightly arrayed in the first 
articles of clothing that had come to hand, sitting shiver- 
ing on the roof, in the grey dawn of a very cold morning, 
watching their property rapidly disappearing in the 
distance. 

Nothing had been seen or heard of the Indians at Monte 
Molino when James W. galloped over there in the after- 
noon, to see how his neighbours had fared, and to relate 
his own losses ; and nothing further was seen of them for 
several months by any of the settlers, as after the attack 
on Monte de la Lena they made the best of their way 
back to their own territory. 

I stayed on at Las Rosas until nearly the end of June, 
and being still weak, in spite of all the care and kind 
nursing. I received under K.'s hospitable roof, I resolved 
to go down to Buenos Ayres, and try what that salu- 
brious place would do for me. I established myself 
at the Universelle, a casa amueblada next door to the 
Bolsa ; and when so minded, could amuse myself in the 
afternoon by watching the mercantile world of Buenos 
Ayres collect outside for business. After about six 



128 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



weeks I began to feel the good effects of the change, and 
was able to enjoy the kind hospitality of various friends. 

There was no opera company in Buenos Ay res until 
just the end of my stay, but I consoled myself with fre- 
quent visits to the French theatre, where the performance 
was very passable. 

I one day received a ticket from a kind Buenos Ayrean 
friend for a very interesting entertainment in the Colon 
theatre. All the free schools in the province of Buenos 
Ayres were assembled to receive their prizes, which were 
given away in the presence of crowds of spectators : the 
enormous opera-house, one of the largest in the world, 
being filled in a way that would have astonished and de- 
lighted the most sanguine of managers. There were seve- 
ral hundred children, all dressed in white and blue, and it 
was a very pretty sight to see them walk gravely up to 
receive their medals, their large dark eyes, the characteris- 
tic beauty of Spanish children, sparkling with delight. 

Early in August I was pressed to accompany some 
friends on an expedition to Patagones, a new settlement 
on the Bio Negro, some hundred leagues to the south- 
ward of Buenos Ayres, and thinking the sea voyage 
would complete my cure, I agreed to go with them. The 
Bio Negro was a short time ago supposed to divide the 
province of Buenos Ayres from Patagonia, but the 
Argentine Government now claim part of Patagonia as 
their property, and sell land to anyone who likes to buy it. 
The town of Patagones is on the southern side of the Bio 
Negro, and at no very great distance from Bahia Blanca, 
a small town close to the sea. The settlement has only 
been formed very recently, and but little was known about 
it, but that little was so favourable, that my friends, who 
had as yet no place of their own, were anxious to see it 
before deciding where to settle. Patagones is supposed 
to be remarkably well fitted for agriculture, and as the har- 



PATAGONIA. 



129 



bour is good, Buenos Ayres offers an excellent market 
for the crops grown there ; the Indians in this part are 
also at present quite friendly to the settlers, which I 
could not honestly say was the case with my own dark- 
skinned neighbours. My intended voyage , however, fell 
to the ground, as the steamer which plies to and fro was 
long delayed at Patagones by bad weather, and when she 
did at last reach Buenos Ayres it was in a state which re- 
quired repairs before she was again fit for sea. I could 
not then afford any longer delay before returning to 
Monte Molino, so was compelled to give up the expedi- 
tion. My friends started for Patagones a few days before 
I left Buenos Ayres, and were so favourably impressed 
with the place, that three of them bought land there, and 
are, I believe, getting on very well. 

Another Patagonian colony had been previously founded 
by some Welshmen, at a place called Chupat, a good deal 
farther south, but it was a complete failure, and provisions 
ran so short that but for timely aid from the English ships 
stationed in the River Plate all the settlers would have 
been starved to death. The place is quite abandoned now, 
most of the colonists having moved to Patagones, and the 
rest are dispersed through the River Plate country. 

My curiosity about Patagonia had lately been a good 
deal increased by frequently seeing some specimens of its 
inhabitants, who had come at this time to Buenos Ayres 
to make some agreement with Government about land. 
These envoys, to the number of about ten or twelve, were 
to be seen constantly in all parts of the town, where 
they excited a great deal of interest. They really were 
on a much larger scale than ordinary mortals, the tallest 
of them measuring six feet eight inches in height, and 
sixty inches round his chest. They had large flat faces, 
and very high cheekbones, with long black hair hanging 
over their shoulders, but no beard or whiskers, these 

jr 



130 



PIONEERING m THE PAMPAS. 



ornaments not being bestowed by nature on any of the 
South American Indians. Altogether the Patagonians 
were as unprepossessing specimens of humanity as could 
well be seen. On their first arrival they wore their native 
dress, a robe of guanaco skins (the guanaco is a sort of 
llama, very common in the south), but they soon assumed 
the Gaucho dress, and conformed in many ways to civilised 
habits. They all understood Spanish, and one of them 
could speak a little English, but this accomplishment, I 
believe, he had picked up from the missionaries in his own 
country, and in spite of this convincing proof c that the 
creature had glimmerings,' as Andrew Fairservice would 
have said, they all had a very stupid look, and struck one 
as belonging to a very low order of mortals. 

The chief topic of interest in Buenos Ayres was, of 
course, the Paraguayan war, which was just then at its 
height, and, indeed, struck one as only likely to terminate 
in the same manner as the celebrated battle between the 
two Kilkenny cats, General Mitre, who was our presi- 
dent, being determined to crush Lopez, and the latter 
appearing equally determined not to give in, a resolution 
which the natural strength of the country and the deter- 
mined bravery of his troops enabled him at present to 
carry out. The war drained the country of men and 
money, and was the real cause of the undefended state of 
the frontier, so that we all looked forward impatiently to 
its termination ; it continued, however, with undiminished 
force for another two years ; but, from accounts recently 
received, I trust the apparently endless struggle is now 
about to terminate. 

A short time before I returned to Frayle Muerto I 
was invited to pay a visit to an estancia about eighteen 
leagues to the south of Buenos Ayres. It belonged to 
an Englishman, and I was much edified by beholding the 
comfort to which estancieros may hope to attain. Los 



A PLEASANT WEEK. 



131 



Sajones was a great contrast to our dwellings in the 
camp, and far ahead even of the much-envied Las Rosas; 
but it was, of course, a long-established place, and as safe 
from Indians as a villa at Richmond. The house, which 
was, of course, azotea (one-storied), according to the 
fashion of the country, was large and comfortable, built 
round a half-square, the inside surrounded by a verandah, 
over which beautiful creepers hung in the greatest profu- 
sion ; there was a delightful garden, and the whole place 
was surrounded by quantities of trees of every descrip- 
tion, a luxury which can be properly appreciated by no 
one who has not dwelt for some time on the treeless waste 
of the Pampas. A large party were assembled in the 
house, as some races were shortly to be held in the neigh- 
bourhood ; and we spent our time, just as in any country- 
house in England, between riding, croquet, and dancing ; 
a dance was given at an estancia about three miles off, to 
which we all went, and one, in return, was soon after got 
up at Los Sajones. 

The races went off very well, and we drove to them in 
a large waggonette, much as we might have done to Ascot 
or Epsom, and in a very different way from Hume's wild 
ride across the camp to Roldan ; but when we reached 
the racecourse at Jeppner the scene was not very different 
from the Rosario races ; and an English frequenter of the 
turf would have been rather astonished at the wild-look- 
ing Gauchos, galloping madly about in every direction, and 
shouting as only a native South American can shout. 

A few days after the races I returned to Buenos Ayres, 
and found letters from Monte Molino awaiting me, with 
the information that Hume was obliged to return home at 
once, in consequence of letters he had just received from 
England, and that in a very few days he would be in 
Buenos Ayres, where he hoped to see me before sailing. 
Several other of our chief friends were going home at the 

K 2 



132 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



same time for a few months' holiday ; Charlie T., James 
W., and our friend M. ; the latter not only intending to 
take a short holiday, but also to bring a steam plough back 
with him, as he thought it would pay well to introduce it 
into the country. I was, of course, very sorry to lose 
Hume, but hoped he would not be absent very long. 

Besides the unwelcome intelligence of the departure of 
so many friends, my letters informed me of the arrival of 
a new companion, whom we had been expecting for some 
little time. J. was an old friend and neighbour at home, 
and, having taken a great fancy for a settler's life, was 
coming to us, to learn a little of the camp ways, before 
setting up for himself, as he had only just left school, and 
as yet knew but little of farming. He was, as may be 
easily imagined, a very welcome addition to the party, 
but, like G., did not at first join us as a partner. 

In a few days the four homeward-bound travellers ap- 
peared. Hume brought me very good accounts of affairs 
at Monte Molino, telling me that the new houses had 
gone on so rapidly as to be nearly completed; he gave 
me a long list of things wanted for the place — furni- 
ture, stores, &c. — all of which could be got better and 
more cheaply at Buenos Ayres than elsewhere ; and, the 
list being as long as those of commissions from friends in 
the country usually are, my last week at Buenos Ayres 
was pretty well filled. 

My friends soon secured their passages on board the 
La Place, one of the Liverpool steamers just about to 
sail. We all dined together the evening before they 
started, and the next day I and several other friends, not 
so happy as to be homeward-bound, went on board to take 
leave of the departing settlers ; after an affectionate fare- 
well, we descended into our boat and sailed back to the 
mole, watching the La Place slowly steaming away into 
the distance, with many wishes for her safe voyage, and 



FIRST IMPRESSIONS. 



133 



not a few that we were also on board her bound for 
Europe. 

"Note. — The following extracts from the letters of one of these men to 
his friends at home may help to give my readers a clearer impression of 
the resources of the country ; and while showing the paradise which such 
a country is to labouring men, at all events to those recently arrived from 
England, they also show that if well used it may fairly be regarded as 
' a land of promise ' to their masters : — ' This is a fine country for living ; 
plenty of beef and mutton, and fowls, ducks, and turkeys ; beef and mutton 
from one penny to two pence per pound. I often think of the poor people 
in England when I see the meat being kicked about the streets, or a great 
dog dragging a piece of beef or mutton about enough to dine twenty people.' 
— ' This is a very nice place, about 25,000 acres of most beautiful soil, very 
level ground, and six miles of river frontage. The river, I must tell you, 
is quite covered over with birds. Swans, geese, ducks, and other beautiful 
birds too numerous to mention. Thousands and thousands of each sort ; 
when you frighten them up they make such a noise you can scarcely hear 
one another speak, and out in the camp there are hundreds of wild deer.' 
— ' The soil is beautiful ; I can dig as much before breakfast here as in a 
whole day in England.' — 'You woiild like to see us sometimes picking 
ducks, geese, swans, and snipe ; you would think it was not much like 
starving to see ten or fifteen ducks cooked at once : and I can assure you 
they are beautiful ones too, some as large as the English tame ones, and as 
fat as they can be. I am sorry to tell you the swans have done laying 
now; and we shall get no more eggs for a fortnight, until the ducks and 
geese and other water fowls begin, then we shall get thousands. It is a 
strange thing, the swans' eggs are no stronger tasted than the English 
hens' eggs.' — ' I only wish I had been here years before ; it is a fine 
country for working men to come to, there are so many good things to be 
had. We can get any quantity of eggs, &c. I went the other day to get a 
few for breakfast, and brought a peck basketful. There is one thing I 
cannot quite manage, and that is to eat one whole ostrich egg ; it is too 
much for me, although I am so fond of them. They are beautiful eggs ; 
we have about one hundred a week of them, this last four or five 
weeks.' — 1 1 must tell you about my horse-dealing. I have bought three. 
The three cost me 21. 12s.; one is three years old, another four, and the other 
aged ; one turned out to be a stolen one, and after I had had it about a 
month the man who owned it came for it.' — 'We have a nice bed of melons, 
cucumbers, and vegetable marrows. I dare say it will surprise you when I 
say we are going to plant twenty or thirty acres of vegetable marrow this 
year for the pigs ; and I must not forget to tell you that we have some 
radishes in the garden eighteen inches long and twenty inches round. I 
never saw such monsters in my life before ; they are from some of the seed 
I had from Day's at Alcester.' 



134 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

ABRIYAL OF EAMS — EETTTEN TO EBAYXE MUEETO — FLEASAITT ITEWS 
FEOM HOME — EETTTEtf TO MOKTE MOLINO. 

A short time before this we had written to England for 
some rams, being very anxious to try whether, by crossing 
our sheep with some good English rams, we could not get 
a superior class of wool. Eight long-woolled sheep, 
Cotswold and Leicester, had accordingly been despatched 
from Liverpool, and, a few days before my departure 
from Buenos Ayres, I heard of the arrival of the Galileo, 
by which ship they were to come. This was very for- 
tunate, as I could myself superintend their landing, and, 
as I was just going to return to Monte Molino, could look 
after them on their journey, there being several changes 
to make by the way. I accordingly got a boat, and went 
off with a friend to the Galileo. The day was very rough, 
and we were more than four hours getting out to the 
steamer, but found, when we got on board, that the eight 
rams were all in excellent health and condition. There was 
a prosperous British look about them all ; the Cotswold, 
especially, might have served for the sign of the golden 
fleece ; and they formed rather a contrast to the spare 
sheep of the Pampas^ who too frequently bear a striking 
resemblance to woolly greyhounds. 

Charlie T. was also expecting some rams, and eight 
had been sent out to him ; but he had not been so lucky as 
ourselves, two of his number having died on the voyage, 
and two more were looking very ill. AVe, however, got 



THE BRIDGE AT FEAYLE MUEETO. 



135 



the six survivors safely ashore with my eight, as I had 
promised Charlie that I would look after them for him ; 
and they were all housed at some stables for a few days, 
until the steamer was ready to start for Rosario. The 
two sick rams shortly followed their companions, in spite 
of all I could do for them ; but, the twelve others having 
been put on board one of the river steamers, I bid adieu 
to my kind friends, and started for Rosario with all my 
belongings, which, indeed, were considerable, as they 
included all the commissions sent from the estancia. 

I found my brother at Rosario, come down to purchase 
timber and other materials necessary for completing the 
house. After three days' halt there I proceeded by train 
to Frayle Muerto, leaving Walter to complete his pur- 
chases, and taking with me a quantity of timber that he 
had bought, besides the rams, stores, &c., delivering the 
four surviving sheep to Gerald T., who had now finally 
left our neighbourhood and established himself at his new 
estancia, about eight leagues to the north-west of Las 
Rosas. 

I was accompanied by four or five friends, lately 
arrived in the country, who were anxious to see the 
camps round Frayle Muerto, before deciding where to 
settle. I had, therefore, asked them to come out with 
me, as our shearing was soon coming on, and there was a 
great deal of other work going forward, which would give 
them a fair idea of what life in the camp was like. On 
reaching Frayle Muerto we found that the river was very 
much swollen, and the old floating bridge washed away, 
so that the only means of getting our goods across was in 
g, small raft, on which only a light load could be placed. 

The railway company were putting up a bridge for 
Government, but, unfortunately for us, it was then only 
in course of construction. It was to be a suspension 
bridge, with a span of about eighty yards in width ; and 



136 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



when finished, some six months later, proved to be a great 
comfort and convenience, not only to the town, but to all 
the settlers round Frayle Muerto, as crossing everything 
on rafts was both a tedious and expensive process. 

The weather was very hot, and I was exceedingly glad 
of the assistance of my friends, who were soon initiated 
into the ways of the country, and worked away with the 
greatest zeal. The rams were, of course, conveyed over 
first, and safely lodged in a little shed at the fonda, where 
I had them shorn, as their fleeces had got very long, and 
they began to feel the heat a good deal. I sent off a 
chasqui (messenger) to Monte Molino directly I arrived, 
for our carts, desiring them also to send over horses for 
myself and my friends. 

After three days' hard work, we got everything across 
the river ; but it was rather a fatiguing business, as the 
station was more than half a mile from the river, and 
everything had to be loaded and unloaded between the 
station and the raft, and after being ferried across, had 
again to be placed in carts, which deposited their load at 
the fonda, there to await the arrival of our own carts. In 
addition to this, the banks of the river were extremely 
steep, so that carrying everything up and down them was 
no joke. At last, however, I happily completed my toils, 
and we were all resting at the fonda, awaiting our carts, 
the horses having been brought by the chasqui, on his 
return, when one of our peons suddenly entered the room, 
and greeted me with the following pleasing news : 6 <; Como 
le va, Don Bicardo ? Me alegro mucho de verlo tan bueno. 
Los Indios han llevado todos los cavallos y la hacienda de 
Monte Molino.'* He had been despatched by Frank 
with this cheering intelligence, and soon proceeded to 

* ' How do you do, Don Ricardo ? I am much pleased to see you so well. 
The Indians have carried off all the horses and cattle from Monte Molino.' 



AGREEABLE INTELLIGENCE. 



137 



give me the following account, interspersed with many- 
wishes respecting the future destiny of the Indians, more 
heartfelt than benevolent. 

The day after the chasqui had started with the horses, 
Frank, J., and a friend w T ho was staying with them, had 
gone to the new house, to put up wire fencing round a 
large paddock, of about a hundred and fifty acres, that 
was just being enclosed, and which stretched from the 
house down to the river. They were working away very 
happily, never dreaming of an attack, when one of the 
peons galloped up, calling out to them that the Indians had 
driven away all the cattle. They at once jumped upon 
their horses, and soon reached the iron house, but only 
in time to see the Indians disappearing in the distance. 
Had they happened to have been up at the house, they 
would certainly have saved some of the stock, as they 
could easily have beaten off the marauders, the number of 
Indians who actually drove off the cattle being but small, 
the main body of them, about two or three hundred in 
number, remaining only just in sight, at a great distance. 
Fate was certainly against us on this occasion, as in conse- 
quence of its being a very windy day, the bricklayers 
were unable to work at the new house. Had they been 
there as usual, they must from their elevated position have 
seen the Indians a long way off, and would have given 
notice of their approach in time for the animals to have 
been driven up to the corrals, and a defence properly 
organised. As it was, there was unfortunately no one at 
the iron house to take the lead in a sortie. Frank and 
his two companions must have had a very narrow escape 
of an encounter, as the Indians must have passed within 
half a mile of the place where they were working, but 
the nature of the ground prevented their seeing the depre- 
dators, and the violent wind carried their shouts in a dif- 
ferent direction. 



138 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



Henry, one of our new workmen from England, was 
constructing a shed for the rams, and saw the Indians, 
when at some little distance, but thought they were only 
some natives running mares. He had been but a short 
time in the Pampas, and though doubtless he had heard 
plenty of stories of the Indians from our capataz Dan, it 
never entered his head that they were now before him. 
As it was, the invaders had certainly made a clean sweep 
of our property, as they had driven off nearly all our 
horses, amounting to about a hundred, and all our bullocks 
and milking cows, amounting to over two hundred head 
of cattle. 

About three leagues from Monte Molino they had 
fallen in with some unfortunate natives, who after bring- 
ing down wood from the Monte to burn our bricks, were 
returning to Saladillo ; the savages instantly pounced 
upon them, carrying off both the bullocks and their 
drivers. 

The loss of our stock was, of course, a great blow to 
me ; but the only thing to be done was to go out to the 
estancia, in spite of the advice of my native friends in 
Frayle Muerto ; ( No se vaya, Don Ricardo, los Indios 
estan todavia en el campo; es muy peligroso.'* As soon, 
however, as our carts arrived, we again loaded our goods, 
and early in the morning started off for the camp, making 
an easy stage to the Arbol Chatof estancia, where we 
slept, as we had a long way to go next day to our own 
estancia. We kept pretty near the carts, in case any of 
the Indians should still be about. On this occasion, 
however, they went straight off ; and none of the other 
settlers suffered, or indeed saw anything of them, except 

* * Don't go, Don Ricardo, the Indians are still in the camp ; it is very 
dangerous.' 

t ' Flat tree ; ' there being a tree with a peculiar flat top near. 



KETUKN TO MONTE MOLINO. 



139 



the Monte de la Lena party, as they passed near enough 
to be seen by them, thongh on the other side of the river. 
T. and his party rode down to the banks, and fired a few 
long shots at the nearest, but they were too far off for 
the bullets to take any effect. 

As soon as we got near the estancia, I galloped on in 
advance of the train of carts, and found the place so much 
changed, from all that had been done during my absence, 
that I should hardly have known it again. I of course 
found Frank and all the rest of the party in very low 
spirits at our misfortunes ; and the particulars of the raid 
were again recounted to me. The loss of our horses, 
especially, was most keenly felt by us all, as there were 
some very good ones among them, and very few had 
been saved. Those sent into Frayle Muerto to us were 
luckily pretty good ones. Our working bullocks were 
also all gone, excepting those with the carts ; and our loss 
altogether was a very heavy one, .as besides the actual loss 
of money, the want of horses and bullocks made us lose 
what was even more valuable — our time, it being im- 
possible at once to replace them. As soon as we had 
condoled with each other on our troubles, I proceeded to 
inspect the new house, which was very nearly completed. 
It consisted of two rooms on the ground floor, with a 
small passage between them, in which was the staircase. 
Above these were two more rooms, and a third story of 
one room was built over one half of the house. The 
second story was completed, but not yet roofed in, and 
the whole was finished about a month after my return. 
The house was about fifty-four feet long, by eighteen in 
breadth, so we had plenty of room. Our object in building 
a third story — a very uncommon practice in the coun- 
try — was to obtain a good look-out place for surveying 
the surrounding camp. We were very much pleased with 
our new house, which was an object of great admiration 



140 



PIOINTJERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



to all the surrounding settlers. We did not, however, get 
into it until about two months later. 

The two Englishmen, Henry and Tom, greeted me 
warmly, and I was glad to find both of them much 
pleased with life in the camp. Henry had already begun 
to operate on a square enclosure of a hundred and fifty 
yards, which with some assistance from the others he had 
made look more like a garden than anything we had 
before possessed. His promising crop had been very 
much damaged by a terrific hailstorm, a few days before 
our arrival, which had devastated the country. The 
hailstones were about the size of pigeon-eggs, and cut all 
the vegetables to pieces. This was rather disheartening, 
and did not much raise the spirits of estancieros who had 
almost at the same moment seen all their live stock dis- 
appear. The hailstorms in the Pampas are at times very 
bad, and the stones occasionally so large that they have 
been even known to kill lambs. The thunderstorms in 
summer are very frequent, as well as extremely violent. 
Soon after my brother's arrival in the country he hap- 
pened to be at the fonda in Frayle Muerto during an 
unusually severe one, when the lightning struck the next 
room, which happily was empty at the moment. The 
effect produced on those in the adjoining apartment was 
as if a shell had suddenly burst close by ; but fortunately 
no one was hurt, the only damage done being that another 
hole in the roof was 'added to the already existing 
fissures. 

Violent gales of wind are very common in the Pampas, 
and there is, of course, nothing to break the force of them 
over these flat plains. But, as I dare say all my readers 
know, there is much more wind altogether in the southern 
hemisphere than in the northern, in consequence of the 
water so much predominating there over the land, and 
when the traveller gets as far south as the Auckland Isles 



PAMPEROS. A SURE ROAD TO WEALTH. 141 



an almost incessant gale blows round the world. On the 
other hand, one-third less of rain falls in the southern 
than in the northern hemisphere. Throughout the coun- 
try the north wind in the summer is very disagreeable, as 
it brings down such intense heat, and a cool gale from the 
southward is always greeted with delight, though it is the 
certain precursor of a thunderstorm ; which nearly always 
begins with a violent wind accompanied by dust, followed 
by heavy thunder, lightning, and rain. 

These dust storms, or pamperos, as they are called, are 
very bad in parts of Buenos Ayres, and sometimes last 
for several hours, during which time it becomes so dark 
that it is almost impossible to see anything ; besides which, 
the cutting way in which the dust drives into one's face, 
feeling almost like a shower of little stones, quite blinds one. 
One of the hardest pamperos I ever remember to have 
experienced was nearly fatal to the roof of our iron house. 
The discomfited inmates suddenly perceived that the wind 
was rapidly lifting off the top of their abode, and it was 
only by instantly rushing out, and getting several lassos 
thrown over the roof, which were firmly secured to the 
ground, that we managed to save it. 

I found a new addition to the live stock (which it was 
fortunately out of the power of the Indians to carry off) 
in the shape of a flourishing colony of ten or twelve pigs, 
which we now considered to be a sure road to wealth, 
some very wise and enterprising person having calculated 
that the produce of two pigs ought in ten years' time to 
produce at least a million. These profitable animals were 
half English breed, and had been purchased by my brother 
in Rosario some months before. Hume had undertaken 
to bring them up from Rosario, and to see them put into 
our carts. A good deal of difficulty was experienced in 
getting them safely from the train to the fonda, and hav- 
ing escaped from their new proprietors, they were seen 



142 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



careering wildly through the streets of Frayle Muerto 
with Hume and a train of small boys in pursuit, the latter 
highly delighted at seeing the gringo (foreigner) unable 
to manage his charge. They were, however, at length 
captured and brought to the fonda, where they were put 
into one of our carts and despatched to Monte Molino, 
amusing themselves on the way by eating the bottom out 
of it. Pig-breeding is a thing that might with care be 
made to pay very well, as ham and bacon always command 
a good price. Up to the present time we have always 
found our small herd of pigs very profitable, maize being 
so cheap, and easily grown, and affording excellent food 
for fattening them. 

The rams seemed very comfortable at first in their new 
quarters, and used to make themselves quite at home, 
walking in and out of the house in the tamest manner 
possible, making investigations into all corners of the 
place for Indian corn, of which they were exceedingly 
fond. 

During my absence, our German puestero, Harry, who 
had now been with us more than a year, had moved from 
our house to a puesto which had been built for him, close 
to the river, about a mile from the new house. A puesto 
simply means an outlying station, and the puestero is, of 
course, the man in charge of the flock. 

Harry had one of our flocks containing over a thousand 
sheep, on shares, and had been living down at our house 
in a rancho, until his own abode was built. This had been 
completed while I was away, and consisted of one room of 
about five yards square, with an azotea roof, and a very 
large ditch all round it, about twelve feet wide and twelve 
deep. Harry was one of those wanderers often to be met 
with in the colonies ; he was by birth a German, but had 
begun life as a sailor in the English merchant service, 
after which he had served in the American navy. The 



OUR NEW PUESTERO. 



143 



various changes of life had at length brought him to Buenos 
Ayres, and there he resolved to turn shepherd, and had 
been several years in the country, having some time pre- 
viously been companion with our first workman, Jack, in 
a puesto on the site where Monte de la Lena now stands, 
managing a flock there for a proprietor, Jose Bibanca, a 
resident in Frayle Muerto, in fact the postmaster who 
supplied travellers with such excellent horses. Besides 
the sheep, they had a crop of wheat, and some pigs, but 
after a very narrow escape from the Indians they were 
forced to abandon their little settlement, and it was, per- 
haps, there that such a wholesome dread of Indians was 
implanted in Jack's mind. 

Harry looked well after the sheep, and, like most sailors, 
was a handy fellow about many things. He was very 
respectable, trustworthy, and, what was still rarer, sober ; 
and we thought ourselves fortunate in having got him to 
act as puestero, as it was no easy matter to find anyone 
who liked living down in our wild neighbourhood. 

We packed all our visitors, somehow or other, into the 
iron house, and prepared for the shearing. Walter had 
returned about a fortnight after my arrival, so we were 
eleven in number besides the servants, and required but 
a few extra hands, as we made up altogether a party of 
about twenty. 



144 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



CHAPTER XV. 

SHEARING — OTJR NEW HOUSE — THE INDIANS AGAIN. 

As we had not yet had time to construct the regular 
galpon or shed, under which the shearing generally takes 
place, we had run up as good a temporary shed for the 
purpose as possible, and, with the help of the shade of our 
few trees just outside the ditch, we made a very fair place 
there for our operations. The corral, where one of our 
flocks was generally shut in at night, being close to these 
trees, we had only to make another little pen, into which 
a small number of sheep could be driven ready to be caught 
for the shearers. There was an opening from this small 
pen to the boarded floor upon which the shearing took 
place. A certain number of men were told off for catch- 
ing and tying the sheep, which were then laid on the floor, 
ready to be shorn. The shearers, as they finish each 
sheep, let the victim go, and call out, 6 Lata,' or s Vellon,' 
as the case may be. Lata meaning the tally which is 
served out for every vellon or fleece, and so called because 
it is generally made of a small piece of tin (lata) stamped 
with the mark of the estancia. The serving out of the 
latas is the business of one of the masters, who, of course, 
before giving a tally sees that the fleece is lifted up by 
the man whose work it is to collect them, and deposited 
on the table, where it is rolled up and tied. It does not 
answer to employ a novice for this work, as he is liable to 
be deceived by the shearers, who are up to all sorts of 



SHEARING. 



145 



trickery, by having a fleece presented to him in two por- 
tions. Experienced men will sometimes shear as many as 
a hundred and fifty or more sheep in a day ; and I have 
been told, though I cannot vouch for the truth of it, that 
a man and his wife once sheared two hundred and ninety 
in a day, the women being quite as good shearers as the 
men, and doing the work much more neatly, seldom cut- 
ting the sheep, though they are not quite so rapid. A 
man is always at hand with a pot of tar and a brush, 
and when a sheep is badly cut, the shearer calls out for 
the medico to supply some of this soothing ointment. 
When a sheep is very badly cut the master stops the lata, 
as it is the only way of controlling the Gauchos, who 
would otherwise gash the poor animals, quite regardless 
of anything but the number of latas they might make in 
a day. 

We had on this occasion about four thousand sheep, so 
our shearing was only on a small scale ; but this short 
description will give some idea of the South American 
wool harvest; it lasted about five days, during which 
time we worked from dawn to dusk, only stopping for a 
very short siesta. The fleeces are tied on a table, and 
then put into a large woolsack suspended by the mouth 
to a beam overhead (when, as in the present instance, the 
estancia does not possess a wool-press). The sack is 
swung clear of the ground and a few fleeces put in, after 
which a man gets into the sack and treads the wool down, 
more wool is added, and the operation continued until the 
sack is filled ; the head of the treader rising gradually out 
of the sack as it becomes full, much like the figure in the 
old child's toy of ' Jack in the box.' One of our visitors 
undertook this operation, which he performed with the 
greatest perseverance. 

As soon as the shearing was finished we took one load 
of wool into Frayle Muerto, where we had already sold 

L 



146 



PIONEEKING m THE PAMPAS. 



it. Wool had fallen since last shearing, but we got as 
good a price in Frayle Muerto as was given in any part 
of the Republic. This fall in the wool market was, of 
course, a serious evil for all sheep-farmers. The close of 
the American war, which had now for some little time 
enabled the usual supply of cotton to be again transmitted 
to Europe, was the chief cause of this depression ; and the 
great temporary rise in the price of wool, in consequence 
of the war, having caused numbers of settlers throughout 
the world to begin sheep-farming during the last few 
years, made the supply much larger than the present 
demand. This, like any other matter of demand and 
supply, will, of course, right itself in time ; but reflections 
of this nature, though very satisfactory to a political 
economist or a chancellor of the exchequer, are no great 
consolation to a struggling settler, whose whole yearly 
income depends on the price of wool. It was, however, 
no more use to deplore this than any of our other misfor- 
tunes; and, having for some months clearly seen what 
was coming upon the sheep-farmer, we had resolved to 
turn our principal attention to agriculture, which pro- 
mised to pay very well, merely keeping on our present 
flocks. The price of wheat in the River Plate was at this 
time quite as high as in England. The Paraguayan war 
had in part contributed to this ; but it requires no artificial 
stimulus to make corn-growing one of the most paying 
speculations in the country. 

We could not, however, depend for this purpose on 
native labour alone, and had, therefore, written home for 
more workmen from England to assist in our farming 
operations ; and four men, from our old neighbourhood in 
Warwickshire, having at once volunteered to come out, 
we heard about this time that they were already on their 
way, and likely to arrive at Monte Molino early in 
January. 



THE LAST OF THE IRON HOUSE. 



147 



About a week before Christmas the house was ready to 
receive us, and we prepared to bid adieu to our old abode 
and remove everything to our new estancia. A couple of 
days were sufficient for removing all our goods, including 
the iron house itself, which, after everything was cleared 
out of it, was taken to pieces and conveyed to the new 
estancia, where the sheets of iron served for roofing to 
some of the out-buildings. These had not as yet been 
begun ; but, according to the plan we had made, were all 
to be built round a square of ground at the back of the 
house. In the centre of this yard was the new well, over 
which a pump had been placed, this being one of the 
trifling commissions I had executed in Buenos Ayres. 
The out-buildings included rooms for our men, a store- 
room, granary, stables, harness-room, galpon, carpenter's 
shed, hen-house, &c. ; and the entrance of the yard was 
secured by a strong iron gate, which we brought up from 
the old house. The kitchen also, which was at the end 
of the house, was not yet finished, and in the meantime 
we used one of our sitting-rooms for culinary purposes. 
All these buildings, of course, took some time to construct, 
but, when finished, they made the estancia very complete. 

It was indeed a joyful moment when the labours of 
moving were concluded and we were finally settled in the 
new house; for, although it was not quite completed 
according to European ideas — the walls not being plas- 
tered, no floors down, and a ladder still our only staircase — 
yet, to people who had lived for two years, without floors 
or plastering, in a dwelling which freely admitted not 
only the winds of heaven, but also its waters, the present 
strong weather-tight abode was a palace of comfort. 

We now began preparing for Christmas ; and, the 
larder being in a very empty state, the whole household 
went off on foraging parties in different directions, some 
going out with their guns in search of wild fowl, and 

L 2 



148 



PIONEEEING IN THE PAMPAS. 



some to Frayle Muerto for flour and other stores ; and, 
the few cattle which had escaped the Indians having been 
by this time all eaten, my brother, accompanied by 
Lisada (who had again returned to us), went out cam- 
pearing, as it is called ; that is, looking for any stray 
animals which might have wandered back after the Indian 
raid. After about twenty miles' riding, under a burning 
sun, they fell in with some wandering bullocks, and, after 
an exhausting day, drove them up to Monte Molino, 
where the prospect of some beef for our Christmas dinner 
was hailed with much delight. We had invited several 
neighbours to spend the day, and made up altogether a 
party of fourteen ; passing it in a more cheerful manner 
than the first Christmas-day which Frank and I had 
spent in this part of the world. Tom provided us with a 
dinner which would have done credit to any chef, and we 
all drank success to Monte Molino. Our newly-finished 
mansion was much admired by our guests. Four of our 
visitors departed the following morning, and I went back 
with them to Monte de la Lena for a day or two, after 
which I returned to Monte Molino. 

Wishing to begin the new year well, I got up about 
sunrise on January 1, 1868 ; and, being the first awake, 
was occupying myself alone just outside the house, when 
I saw Lorenzo (the only one of our peons who was left 
on the place, all the others having gone into Frayle 
Muerto for a few days' holiday) galloping over from the 
old house, where he had been sleeping in the rancho, to 
look after the flock which was still in the corral there. 
As soon as the boy came near I saw that he was in a great 
state of excitement, as he was waving about a drawn 
sword and shouting out, ( Los Indios ! Los Indios ! ' He 
told me they were at the puesto ; and I, accordingly, ran 
up to the look-out place, hastily waking the rest of the 
party as I rushed through the house. I soon made out 



AN AGREEABLE NEW YEAR'S DAY. 



149 



in the distance a very large body of men and horses, but 
whether or not all were mounted we could not clearly 
see. As far as we could judge, however, their number 
seemed to amount to about a thousand ; but they were 
too far for us to distinguish for a certainty how many of 
the horses had riders. 

Lorenzo then told us that, having got up very early, 
he espied the Indians in the distance, and had instantly 
run out to drive our working bullocks into the corral, 
firmly fastening the gate. A few of the Indians had then 
ridden up within two or three hundred yards of the wire 
fencing round the new house, and had driven away our 
few remaining horses. He watched them ride on towards 
the puesto (where Harry, as I before said, was living by 
himself), and then at once got on his horse and galloped 
up to give the alarm. 

We now felt very anxious about Harry's fate; and, 
after watching the Indians in the distance for about half 
an hour, we had just determined to ride over to the puesto 
on our only two horses, when we saw a figure on foot 
slowly approaching from the same direction. This soon 
proved to be Harry, in a very peculiar costume, consisting 
only of his calzones and a sheep-skin. We were much 
relieved to see him, and he soon proceeded, after being 
clothed and refreshed, to recount his adventures. He 
told us that, about two hours before daylight, he was 
suddenly awakened by a violent barking from his dogs, 
and, hastily slipping on his clothes, went up to the roof 
of his house. From thence he could just make out, in 
the dim light, a number of mounted men, one of whom 
called out to him in Spanish to come down, as they wanted 
to speak to him. He enquired who they were, and the 
same voice replied that they were Indians, of some tribe 
whose name he could not quite catch, but it sounded 
like Ranqueles. These were our usual visitors ; but we 



150 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



afterwards discovered that this horde belonged to a differ- 
ent tribe, and that they were also joined by a large party 
of Gauchos from the south of Buenos Ayres. Poor Harry 
was very unwilling to descend among his unwelcome 
visitors, and thought at first of making a fight of it, as 
his house was well defended by the deep ditch, and he 
had arms and ammunition. The man who was conversing 
with him, and who proved to be the interpreter, told him, 
however, that he would do better to come down to them, 
as in that case he should not be hurt; but that, if he 
resisted, they would burn his house and murder him ; and 
that, as they were a strong party and had fire-arms, he 
had no chance of holding out against them. It was still 
too dark for him to see their real numbers, and, being 
quite alone, he at last resolved to trust to their promises 
and go down. 

He accordingly went out, and the cacique began ques- 
tioning him through the interpreter as to the number of 
soldiers in Frayle Muerto, how many we were at Monte 
Molino, and whether the party consisted of foreigners or 
natives ; also whether anyone was living at the old house, 
and other questions, which proved that their spies had 
previously been about, and had obtained a great deal of 
information. Harry told them the truth about all these 
things, only suppressing the fact of there being anyone at 
the old house, and it was probably owing to this that 
Lorenzo escaped. 

The cacique then told him that they wanted to find the 
passage across the river, and ordered him to mount be- 
hind him, which he at once did. They then rode down 
to the river, which was much swollen by the late rains, 
Harry pointing out the place where the ford was. On 
the way there they passed through a large body of men, 
amounting, as it appeared to him, to at least five hundred. 
When they reached the river, the cacique told him to get 



FORDING THE RIVER. lol 

on an old horse and proceed through the ford, which he 
did, closely followed by three or four Indians, who had 
previously relieved him of his boots and shirt, no doubt 
thinking it a pity that they should get wet. The river 
in some places is extremely muddy, and unless one hits olf 
the exact spot where the pass is, one is apt to get bogged. 
This, between the darkness and the rather novel position 
in which he found himself, Harry on the present occasion 
failed to do, and he and his four companions soon stuck fast 
in the mud. His sensations were not very agreeable, as 
he was afraid the Indians might think he was trying to 
deceive them, and he fully expected to feel one of their 
long lances stuck into him. He, however, explained as 
well as he could that it was accidental; and they all 
floundered back, somehow or other, to the place whence 
they had started. Their second attempt was more success- 
ful, as they got safely across, though the river was so full 
that they were forced to swim their horses over. The 
cacique then called to them to return, as the river was 
too deep for the whole party to attempt to cross it. He 
informed Harry that he might depart, as his services 
were not wanted any longer ; but advised him to conceal 
himself in the long reeds, lest he should fall in with any 
stray Indians, who, according to their usual merciful 
habits, would probably kill him. 

Harry did not require a second bidding, and as soon as 
they had all ridden off in the direction of the puesto, the 
troop having been called together by the sound of a bugle, 
he lost no time in crossing the river, thinking that he 
would be safer on the opposite side, and then hid himself 
among the reeds. Here he waited until it was quite light, 
when he thought he might venture back to his puesto, 
to see what damage had been done. He waded back 
through the river, and seeing no more of the Indians, 
walked to his house, where he found that everything he 



152 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



possessed in the world had been carried off, and that all 
the sheep had disappeared. His horses were gone, of 
course, so he had nothing better to do than to walk up to 
the house and relate his adventures. 

The Indians, who were at a great distance when we 
first saw them, had quite disappeared by this time ; and 
having only two horses on the place, it was useless to 
attempt any pursuit. This driving off of sheep was quite 
a new feature in Indian attacks, and proved how large a 
body there must have been for them to venture on such a 
step. About twelve hundred of our sheep were gone, and 
there were no apparent means of getting them back. 

Later in the day, Harry, having recovered his morning 
adventures, and being again clothed like a respectable 
puestero, sallied out on one of the two remaining horses 
to see whether he could find any traces of his stolen flock. 
The rest of our party remained disconsolately at home, 
only wishing that the Indians would reappear, and give 
us a chance of acknowledging their attentions. Harry 
returned towards evening, and told us he had traced the 
sheep a long way to the south, of course taking care not 
to come up with the Indians. The course they had taken 
was marked by the dead bodies of many of his beloved 
flock, having small pieces hacked out of them, which had 
apparently been eaten quite raw, as there were no signs 
of any fire having been lighted. This led us to suppose 
that the Indians had merely driven off the sheep to kill 
by the way, and not with the intention of getting them 
down to their own country. 

About five hundred of our flock returned to us the 
next day, appearing none the worse for their little expe- 
dition to the south, though they must have traversed a 
good many leagues in the course of their travels ; and 
their arrival was warmly greeted by their bereaved 
masters, but no more was ever seen of the remaining 



A LITTLE KIFLE PKACTICE. 



153 



seven hundred. Harry stayed at the house after this, 
with the small remnant of his flock, naturally enough not 
caring to return to the puesto. 

Early every morning we took a good survey of the 
country, hoping some of our horses might find their way 
back to us; and on the 4th of January a small number 
of animals being suddenly descried at a considerable dis- 
tance, Harry and Lorenzo rode off to see what they were. 
We were just outside the house, busy at work finishing 
some of the new fencing, when our servant Tom, who 
from the roof of the house was watching the proceedings 
of Harry and Lorenzo with the deepest interest, suddenly 
called to us that he saw them both returning at full gallop, 
pursued by a number of Indians. We rushed in for our 
rifles, and ran out to meet the Indians, fearing they might 
overtake the two men, but very soon saw that the latter 
were too much in advance for there to be any danger of 
this happening. We stopped, therefore, and remained 
not far from the house, waiting till the Indians should 
come close enough for us to get a good shot at them. 
Harry and Lorenzo soon rode up, the Indians following 
at about a quarter of a mile behind, until they saw that 
their prey had escaped them, when they changed their 
direction, some of them riding up towards the spot where 
our few remaining bullocks were feeding, evidently with 
the intention of driving them off. The bullocks were 
luckily in the enclosure we had just made, with wire 
fencing round it, which was, of course, invisible from a dis- 
tance ; but when the Indians came near enough to see it, 
they all stopped short, appearing very much astonished at 
this new kind of hedge. Being a small party, and evidently 
afraid to come up to the estancia, they then turned and 
rode back towards the site of the old house. We should 
now most likely have had a good shot at them, as they 
were about to pass within range, but one of our party, 



154 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



getting excited, fired too soon, and the Indians instantly- 
altered their course. We all fired after this, but as far 
as we could perceive, our shots took no effect, though we 
could see them strike the ground pretty close to the 
Indians. The rest of the Indians were in the meantime 
beginning to drive off our sheep, who were almost half a 
mile from the house. This we should soon have put a 
stop to, by sallying out on foot, but when the first shot 
was fired they desisted from their endeavour, and all 
joined their companions, the whole party riding down to 
the old house, where they remained a short time, endea- 
vouring to find something to carry off, after having just 
stationed one of their number on the top of the rancho to 
act as a sentinel. 

There being nothing for the Indians to carry off, it did 
not seem worth while to go out against them, as we had 
only two tired horses, while they were all as usual very 
well mounted, and we could not expect to catch them on 
foot. Had we only had our horses we might easily have 
finished them off, as they were but a small party, and we 
were all well armed. They soon rode away, having on 
this occasion done us no harm, and we saw no more of 
them for some time ; none of our neighbours suffered 
from this invasion, which seemed to have been directed 
against us, the Indians having, no doubt, previously made 
as complete an inspection of our premises as they dared. 

A few days after this Lisada returned from Frayle 
Muerto, and luckily brought a few horses back with him, 
so that we were relieved from our sort of forced residence 
at home. Harry left us soon after to go to Rosario, where 
h'e hoped to find employment, his Indian experiences 
having finally disgusted him with camp life, which, in- 
deed, was not surprising ; but one of our visitors volun- 
teered to remain and become our puestero, a very usual 
way for new-comers to learn some experience of settling, 



TRY TO GET UP AN EXPEDITION. 



155 



the puestero taking the flocks on share, and receiving a 
third of the profits. 

We had been endeavouring long before this to stir up 
the neighbourhood to unite in an expedition against the 
Indians, and we now made a great effort to get an armed 
force together, intending to go down to the Indian terri- 
tory, and try to give them a lesson which might stop these 
repeated invasions, as it was impossible we could put up 
much longer with the present state of things. But our 
efforts were all unsuccessful, and the many difficulties in 
the way proved too great ; the chief one being that the 
settlers, though most ready to fight with the Indians, did 
not like leaving their property quite undefended during 
their absence, lest, while they were in pursuit of one body 
of Indians, another should take the opportunity of carry- 
ing off everything they possessed. We were again forced, 
therefore, to have recourse to petitioning the Government 
for some protection of the frontier, though with very 
little hope of success ; as we had already sent in numerous 
applications of a similar nature, to which General Mitre 
was too much occupied with the Paraguayans to pay any 
attention. But as the proposed expedition seemed im- 
practicable, we again got up a strong memorial, which 
we despatched to the English Minister at Buenos Ayres, 
though without much hope of its producing any effect. 

After this experience of life in the Frayle Muerto camps, 
my readers will not be surprised to hear that none of our 
visitors cared to remain except the intrepid puestero : all 
the others departed in search of a more peaceful spot to 
settle in, and business obliging me to go down to Rosario, 
one of them who intended to visit Entre Bios accompanied 
me there, assisting me by the way in taking the rest of 
the wool down to Frayle Muerto, where we disposed of it 
for as good a price as could now be reasonably expected. 



156 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

THE CHOLERA — LAST SIGHT OP THE INDIAN'S — ELECTION OP 
THE PRESIDENT. 

The first news that greeted our arrival in Frayle Muerto 
was that the cholera was again raging in Rosario, and, 
indeed, everywhere throughout the country. At Villa 
Nueva a great number of the foreigners employed on the 
railway had died of it. It appeared to have assumed the 
form of the worst kind of Asiatic cholera, and was some- 
thing beyond all belief. In Cordoba more than eight 
hundred a day were dying, out of a population of a few 
thousands, and in a monastic college there thirty-two out 
of the forty inmates had died. It was at this moment 
very bad in Frayle Muerto, and there was little else for 
anyone to speak of but the terrible state of things through- 
out the country. At a few leagues' distance from Frayle 
Muerto the railway conductor pointed out to us a dead 
body lying not far from the tramway, which he told us 
was that of a tropero (a man travelling with mules), who 
having been attacked by the disease, was stripped and left 
to die by his heartless companions. We heard many 
melancholy instances of this sort of desertion, cowardly 
relations and friends leaving the person attacked to perish 
without any effort for his recovery or relief, beyond a 
jug of water placed at his side ; and the guard related 
one curious case of this description, in particular. A few 
days before, he had seen, when passing near Villa Nueva, 
a man lying by the side of the railway, apparently dead, 



AN ARRIVAL FROM ENGLAND. 



157 



with a large demajuana of water placed near him ; on the 
second day, however, the man had disappeared, and the 
guard found on enquiry that he had recovered from his 
deathlike state almost miraculously, and without any care 
or attention from his friends, beyond the jug of cold 
water which they had put near him when first he fell 
down there. 

On reaching Rosario I found the town in a very dis- 
orderly state, as, notwithstanding the cholera, the Federal 
party had taken this opportunity of getting up a revolu 
tion, and the place was in their hands. 

Two English gunboats had been summoned by our 
consul, from Buenos Ayres, to protect the British interests, 
as one of the Argentine gunboats having been fired into 
by the rebels, they had begun bombarding the town, and 
the shots had entered several houses, and greatly alarmed 
the peaceable inhabitants. I had only been a few hours in 
Rosario when I heard that one of the Las Rosas partners, 
who had been for a short time in England, had just re- 
turned, and while walking from the station to the town I 
met the whole party, just landed from the river steamer, 
and on their way to the station, accompanied by the com- 
mander of the Doierel (one of the gunboats), and escorted 
by a guard of marines. 

They formed rather an imposing procession, as besides 
my friends at Las Rosas, the English officer and his men, 
the party included six or seven new acquaintance just 
arrived in the country, a thoroughbred horse fresh from 
England, a short-horned bull named Whirlwind, and about 
twenty sheep, two or three carts laden with luggage 
closing the cavalcade. They all stopped on seeing me, 
and told me they were going out next day to Las Rosas, 
where they pressed me to accompany them, and though 
I could not do this, I promised to follow as soon as I 
should have finished the business which brought me to 



158 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



Rosario. In the meantime I accepted a kind invitation 
from the commander of the Doterel to stay on board his 
ship, and was not sorry to pass the night outside a town 
where both cholera and a revolution were going on at the 
same time. 

I was glad to find our old puestero, Harry, had got a 
comfortable place at an English stable, and I saw him there 
in the evening looking very well and happy ; but next 
morning I heard from the owner of the stable that poor 
Harry, who had been sent out to the quinta to cut some 
alfalfa for the horses, had been suddenly taken very ill 
there with the cholera, and his master begged me to come 
out with him to the place where he was, which was about 
two miles from the town. We accordingly rode there as 
fast as possible, taking with us all the remedies we could 
think of, and found poor Harry in a small house belong- 
ing to the quinta, lying on the bed there. We tried every 
possible means we could to restore him, applying mustard 
poultices, rubbing his hands and feet, and giving him port 
wine, brandy, and chlorodyne : but almost the first glance 
had convinced us that the case was hopeless, as his hands 
were already tinged with the deathlike blue colour which 
in this terrible disease is one of the fatal symptoms. 
Harry was quite conscious, and much pleased to see me, 
but very desponding about himself, though we did all we 
could to cheer him up and encourage him, but it was 
evident he thought himself dying. He was very anxious 
to see a doctor, and at his earnest request I at length went 
back to the town to try whether I could not persuade one 
to come out. This I found impossible, as they were 
already almost worked to death, and one of the cleverest 
doctors in Hosario had that day died himself of cholera. 

They were also unwilling to run the risk of being 
stopped by the soldiers outside the town, who, indeed, had 
detained me some time before I could convince them that 



poor haret's death. 



159 



I was in no ways concerned in the revolution. From the 
symptoms I described also they assured me that by this 
time all was probably over, but they gave me several 
prescriptions, which I took to the chemist and had made 
up, sending them out to the quinta, where the messenger 
found that poor Harry had died a quarter of an hour after 
I quitted him. He had then shaken hands with me, and 
taken an affectionate farewell, and I only left him in con- 
sequence of his earnest request. He had been a faithful 
friend, and I believe felt a real attachment to us, and his 
sad death grieved us all much. 

The cholera now became hourly worse in Rosario ; the 
town, in the streets unoccupied by the soldiers, was like 
a city of the dead, — whole rows of houses where the in- 
habitants had died being shut up. Everyone who could 
do so escaped to the camp, where an unfortunate French 
family were carried off by the Indians. The cholera this 
year attacked foreigners quite as much as natives, and 
throughout the country people were dying at the rate of 
one out of every ten. After a couple of days on board 
the Doterel, I went out to Las Rosas, and found all the 
party still at their station, the Canada de Gomez, waiting 
for their carts, which arrived there a few minutes after I 
did. We then set to work to load them, and despatched 
them to Las Rosas late in the day, intending to follow 
ourselves the next morning. 

According to the usual custom we laid down in the 
waiting-room, and were roused from our slumbers, rather 
early in the morning, by the sound of a train rumbling 
through at a most unusual time, and found that it had 
been despatched to Mendoza to bring down troops to 
subdue the Revolutionary party. We had, luckily, shunted 
the trucks, used for bringing down all the Las Rosas' 
goods, to a siding, the passengers assisting in these sort 
of matters in this free and enlightened Republic ; but our 



160 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



having done so was a perfect chance, as no train was 
expected till the following morning. 

We rode out next morning to Las Rosas, and found 
everything safely arrived; and, our spirits rising at this 
welcome change from the sad scenes we had left in 
Rosario, we passed a pleasant day, telling our various 
adventures. 

The next morning, however, I felt myself very unwell, 
and soon found I had a severe attack of cholera, which 
lasted, rather badly, for about twenty-four hours, during 
which time my kind friends applied every possible remedy ; 
I then took a good turn, and was soon well. 

I stayed on a few days at Las Rosas, all sorts of 
rumours reaching us meantime about the progress of the 
Revolutionary party ; one report being that the rebels 
had been endeavouring to destroy the railway-bridge 
over the Car car anal, so as to prevent the arrival of 
soldiers from Mendoza ; and this proved so far true, that 
the rails had actually been pulled up and the traffic 
stopped for some days : it was repaired after a short time, 
and the troops then reached Rosario, of which they 
immediately took possession, the Federal army retreating 
outside the town, where they formed an encampment. 

As soon as the railway was repaired, I returned to 
Rosario, the train proceeding cautiously towards the 
bridge, as we were uncertain whether or not the rails had 
been again disturbed ; so we all stood, ready to jump out 
in case of necessity ; but our passage was quite uninter- 
rupted, and we safely reached the town, where we found 
everyone in full expectation of a pitched battle outside 
the walls, to add to the horrors inside ; this expectation 
was disappointed, as, in a day or two, the rebels quietly 
laid down their arms, having apparently thought better 
of it. Meanwhile the cholera became worse and worse, 
not only in the town, but even in the camp outside, where 



THE CHOLERA. 



161 



it was committing fearful ravages ; at Canada de Gomez 
it was terribly bad, whole families dying of it, and, out 
of a small German colony there of twenty-five, eighteen 
died. To give a little idea of the state of despondency 
which people reached, I may mention an unhappy estan- 
ciero, who, after having seen everyone else die in his 
house in succession, was himself attacked by the disease, 
and shot himself in despair. No one can imagine the 
depression throughout the country, and nothing in Europe 
in late days can give an idea of the state of things. The 
English escaped this year no more than anyone else ; and 
we heard dreadful accounts of the state of things among 
the prosperous estancieros to the south of Buenos Ayres, 
where I had spent such a pleasant time last year ; though, 
I am thankful to say, my kind hosts there escaped ; but 
whole estancias were deserted, and we were told of flocks 
wandering about without any owners, the country being 
half depopulated. The Buenos Ayres papers contained 
nothing but one long list of deaths ; and the whole 
Republic was in a state of mourning, those who had 
escaped themselves having to lament some dear friend or 
other. The usual mixture of self-devotion, springing from 
one class of minds, was exhibited, in strong contrast to 
the most heartless conduct from the other ; and the fear of 
infection became so great, that the dead were buried with 
the most indecent haste, the nearest relatives often not 
daring to enter the house, where the unhappy victim had 
been left to perish alone, but lassoing the dead body from 
outside, and dragging it out, as rapidly as possible, to the 
hastily-made grave. There was no temptation to remain 
in Rosario, and, the moment my business was concluded, 
I returned to Frayle Muerto, where I found the cholera 
very bad, and the people dying in numbers, the priest, as 
I before mentioned, exerting himself nobly to assuage the 
sufferings of his poor parishioners. On returning to Monte 

M 



162 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



Molino, I heard that half the population of Saladillo had 
died during my absence ; but this was the nearest point 
to us which the cholera reached, and all the estancias 
round us escaped entirely. My readers can imagine the 
delight of leaving the close atmosphere of the plague- 
stricken town for the fresh pure air of the open camp. I 
found on reaching home that my brother, uneasy at the 
accounts which reached him, had gone down to Rosario in 
search of me, somehow missing me by the way ; and it was 
with great pleasure we saw him safely return, a few days 
later, though he brought still worse accounts, if possible, 
of the state of things, and news, which grieved us most 
deeply, of the sudden death of one of our greatest friends 
from cholera. The disease, however, began to abate to- 
wards the middle of February, and disappeared with the 
cold weather, never again, I hope, to return to a country 
where previously it was quite unknown. 

I found things going on pretty well at Monte Molino, 
where our four new workmen had arrived during my 
absence. They seemed very favourably impressed with 
the general aspect of camp life, the shooting and riding 
quite reconciling them to the solitary neighbourhood, and 
they had got safely up the country, in spite of revolutions 
and cholera. 

A short time after our return from Rosario my brother 
and I had the last sight of the Indians with which we have 
been favoured so far, though on this point one never 
likes to boast. Our larder was again in a low state, and, 
being tired of living on armadillo, and not liking to kill 
our sheep if we could avoid it, we went out on a cam-pear- 
ing expedition to the south. We were about sixteen 
miles from home, 6 mas 6 menos,' and had captured two 
rather lean cows, which we were slowly but triumphantly 
driving home, when, happening suddenly to look round 
(a thing which, indeed, one did pretty often), a very 



FORAGING — ELECTION OF PRESIDENT. 



163 



unpleasant sight met our eyes. We beheld in the dis- 
tance a large body of mares, watched by several men on 
horseback, whom we, of course, knew must be Indians ; 
and, while we were looking at the party through our 
field-glasses, a still larger body of horsemen hove in 
sight, driving before them a number of animals, evidently 
with the intention of joining the troop we had first seen. 
We now thought there was no more time to be lost, and 
turned at once towards home, hoping the Indians might 
not see us. Our horses were rather tired, but we got 
them along somehow or other, urging on the cows, whom 
we resolved not to abandon if we could help it. 

After riding a few miles, with rather uncomfortable 
sensations, we were relieved to find that we gradually 
lost sight of the Indians, and rather late in the day, we 
safely reached home with our two prisoners. 

The excitement in Rosario, which had led to the 
revolution, was chiefly owing to the approaching election 
of a new president, which was to take place early in 
May, and to which we were all looking forward with 
much anxiety ; and, in spite of the temporary re-establish- 
ment of order, a severe struggle between the Federal 
party and the Government was expected, as great agita- 
tion was going on throughout the Republic. Contrary, 
however, to all expectation, the election passed off quietly, 
and Don Domingo Sarmiento was elected president of 
the Argentine Republic. This choice gave general satis- 
faction throughout the country, and was hailed with es- 
pecial joy by all the English settlers, as Senor Sarmiento 
is distinguished not only for his great abilities, but even 
more so for his wise and enlightened views, and the 
earnest zeal for the good of his country, which his dis- 
interested conduct in public life has always shown. He 
had been lately residing in the United States, where he 
had filled the important office of minister ; and his election 

M 2 



164 



PIONEEKING m THE PAMPAS. 



as president was entirely unsolicited on his own part, he 
having refused all entreaties from his friends, to return 
home, in order to become a candidate for popular favour. 
The able manner in which he has carried on the Govern- 
ment has hitherto quite fulfilled these sanguine hopes ; 
and, as far as regards the interests of the English set- 
tlers, I may add that the latest accounts from Frayle 
Muerto report — though, as I fear, prematurely — that 
troops are already being despatched to protect the frontier 
from Indian invasions. 



165 



CHAPTER XVII. 

WE BEGIN" PLOUGHING — ENGLISH TRAVELLERS — A MYSTERIOUS 
ROBBERY — LISA DA'S ADVENTURES — FERTILITY OE THE SOIL — 
I RETURN TO ENGLAND. 

Having now determined to give our chief attention to 
agriculture, we set to work to prepare our land for the 
wheat-sowing, which would take place about the end of 
June, and purchased about twenty additional bullocks 
for ploughing with. We found breaking these in ex- 
tremely hard work, as they were all young animals ; and 
no one unacquainted with bullocks can possibly imagine 
the degree to which they can try one's patience. The 
Scripture comparison, of a s bullock unaccustomed to the 
yoke,' must recur very forcibly to anyone unlucky enough 
to have the training of these animals. The natives say 
of them, what old naval officers used to say of the seamen, 
that they will not obey a command unless it is accom- 
panied by a few strong adjectives ; and, certainly, if the 
use of them is at all effective, the Gauchos ought to find 
their bullocks most obedient servants. Our new team 
used to make a rush in every direction but the right one, 
refusing to go straight along the furrow, and, after en- 
tangling themselves together, would kick like horses, 
further manifesting their disgust at their new occupation 
by violently plunging about ; all which manoeuvres were 
rather disturbing to the course of the plough. 

We reduced them to order at last ; but they are always 
obstinate and tiresome to manage, and seem to be 



)66 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



possessed by the republican and restless spirit of the 
country, which Hume used to declare infected the very 
animals. We had purchased some American ploughs, 
until we could import some from England, and found 
them answer very well. The native plough is, I should 
think, much the same sort of instrument as that which 
one imagines Romulus to have used for the celebrated 
ploughing round the site of his new city. It consists 
only of a large log of wood, with a piece of pointed iron 
at one end, which, of course, does not plough the ground 
at all, according to our ideas, but merely scratches it up ; 
this, however, the natives consider quite sufficient for all 
purposes of cultivation, and, in this rich and beautiful 
soil, decent crops really are produced in this extraordinary 
manner. 

M. returned from England in April, bringing out his 
steam plough, everything on his estate having been got 
ready during his absence for commencing operations there 
on an extensive plan. The first trial of the plough was, 
however, to take place close to the station at Frayle 
Muerto ; and there was great excitement about it in the 
neighbourhood, a large number of persons collecting to 
see how this first experiment would answer. It succeeded 
very fairly indeed, considering the very bad nature of the 
spot of ground chosen, which was full of biscacha holes, 
and roofs from the monte close by. M. at once began 
ploughing at his estancia on a very large scale; and 
though it was too late for wheat-sowing that season, by 
the time his ground was prepared, he got in a very large 
quantity of maize, which promised to produce a very 
good crop. 

We worked hard at our less scientific style of agricul- 
ture, and had generally four or five ploughs going, each 
drawn by two or four bullocks, according to the state of 
the ground. Before beginning to plough it was necessary 



TRAVELLERS. 



167 



to burn the grass, for which, of course, the estanciero 
always waits until the wind is in a favourable direction. 
Burning the camp at other times, to improve the grass, is a 
very common practice, and camp fires from this, or acci- 
dental causes, are constantly to be seen all over the country, 
and at night have a very picturesque effect. The grass is 
always, if possible, burnt down just before rain; after 
which a beautiful crop of the finest green, to which both 
sheep and cattle are extremely partial, springs up directly. 
These fires last sometimes for two or three days ; but in 
our part of the country there was not the least danger 
from them, as they could easily be beaten out with sheep- 
skins if they appeared likely to approach any spo't where 
they could do harm, and there being nothing substantial 
to feed the flames, they are so trifling, that I have con- 
stantly galloped through the few yards over which they 
extend when I have happened to meet them. But in 
parts of the province of Buenos Ayres, where whole tracts 
of land are covered by enormous forests of thistles ten or 
twelve feet in height, these fires become very dangerous 
when the thistles are ripe, and occasionally cause very 
serious consequences. We were quite free from thistles 
in our part of the country, and very thankful to be so. 

Our ploughing progressed so rapidly, that about the 
beginning of June I went up with a neighbour to Villa 
Nueva, to purchase some seed wheat there, which we had 
been told was very good. On my return from Villa 
JNueva I stayed for a day or two in Frayle Muerto, and 
found there a young English gentleman attached to the 
Embassy at Buenos Ayres, who was traveliing through 
the country, accompanied by his sister, she being certainly 
the first young English lady who has had the courage to 
come out to the Argentine Republic for a tour of pleasure. 
They were on their way to Cordoba ; and as it would 
have been unpleasant for a lady to stay at the post-houses 



168 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



on the way, the fonda at Frayle Muerto, which I have 
described, being very far above the average, they had 
brought with them their own tents, in which they lived, 
travelling through the country in a sort of open curricle. 
Two of our friends were with them, and the whole party 
were attended by a very hideous little negro, who was 
generally supposed to have been purchased at St. Vincent 
for half-a-crown. 

Pompey was about twelve years old, and when perched 
up on an enormous recado, on a very high horse, where 
he looked perfectly happy, bore a very strong resemblance 
to a monkey. The travellers intended to make a long ex- 
pedition up the country, but finally went no farther than 
Cordoba. They talked of paying us a visit on their way 
up, but the fear of Indians in the camp prevented their 
accomplishing this ; and delighted as we should have 
been to have had a visit from them, we could not con- 
scientiously press Mr. and Miss very strongly to 

come out to Monte Molino. 

After parting with the travellers, I despatched my 
wheat early in the day to Monte Molino in the carts 
which had been sent out to fetch it, and followed it the 
same evening, sleeping at an estancia not far from the 
Arbol Chato, intending to catch up the carts next day, 
and reach home with them ; but the first thing that 
greeted me in the morning was a messenger from Las 
Chanaritas, informing me that my carts had the night 
before been pillaged by the Indians, and that the peons 
had made their escape to S.'s estancia there. I accord- 
ingly rode to Las Chanaritas (S. was just then away in 
England), and found the two peons there, who at once 
proceeded to give an account of the affair. They told me 
that, on the preceding evening, they had just reached the 
usual spot chosen as a halfway resting-place between 
Frayle Muerto and our estancia, and which consisted of 



AN UNFORTUNATE KITTEN. 



169 



a small group of quebracho trees (the only trees to be 
found along the whole sixteen leagues of road), and were 
just about to tie up the bullocks for the night, when four 
Indians, armed with long lances, rode up, and began to 
rob the carts, taking also some of the peons' clothes from 
them. They then proceeded to light a fire under the 
carts, with the benevolent intention of burning whatever 
they could not take away ; but the fire luckily soon went 
out, and the only thing actually burnt was a box, con- 
taining a small tabby kitten, which had just been given 
to rae by a lady in Frayle Muerto. Whether the poor 
kitten was really burnt I do not know, but from the ap- 
pearance of the charred remains of the box, I felt some 
hopes it might first have been broken open, and the luck- 
less little prisoner have made its escape into the long 
grass. On hearing this unpleasant news, I borrowed a 
horse from S.'s estancia and despatched one of the peons 
on it to Monte Molino, to fetch some more bullocks to 
draw the wheat, the Indians having, of course, driven off 
those attached to the carts. I then rode over with a 
friend to inspect the scene of the robbery, which was only 
a league from Las Chanaritas. I found everything scat- 
tered about in all directions ; but the wheat had luckily 
escaped, and as soon as the bullocks arrived, we got it 
safely hoine ; nor was our eventual loss very great, as 
shortly after our arrival at Monte Molino the eight miss- 
ing bullocks trotted gaily up to their usual paddock, much 
to the delight of their masters. Their return greatly 
confirmed the doubts already felt as to the robbers being 
really Indians ; and the peons soon after leaving us, to 
go to Frayle Muerto, saying they were afraid to drive 
the carts any more, we had them closely watched for some 
time, though without any result ; but we always believed 
them to have been in league with the robbers, whom we 
did not, for several reasons, suppose to be Indians. 



170 



PIONEEKING IX THE PAMPAS. 



Ploughing is an occupation which has a good deal of 
sameness in it, the chief variety being that of occasionally 
turning up a snake,, which I need hardly say was instantly 
despatched ; and I have sometimes killed as many as twelve 
in a morning, a pair of strong boots quite securing one from 
any danger from their attacks. The wheat-sowing was a 
welcome change of work, and we began it about the end 
of J une. We had no drill, and were, of course, obliged 
to sow broadcast. During this time immense flocks of 
pigeons, doves, and parrots were always hovering about 
us, though we had scarcely ever seen any before, except 
in the montes. How they discovered what was going on 
I never could imagine, as the nearest monte was quite 
thirty miles off, and no wood-pigeons had ever been seen 
on our property before, though a solitary parrot would 
sometimes find its way down there. They came in such 
dense flocks, that I have sometimes killed eight or ten at 
one shot. They were very useful for pies, &c, and 
during the sowing-time we almost lived on them, in 
return for which they ate a good deal of our wheat. 
When the seed was all in the ground they vanished 
directly, but were always on the spot when any maize or 
wheat-sowing was going on, though by what means they 
knew of our proceedings it was quite impossible to 
guess. 

Meanwhile Henry was diligently working at our 
garden, which promised to supply us well with vegetables. 
All those which are ordinarily seen in English gardens 
grow here in the greatest luxuriance, some of them attain- 
ing an immense size. The radishes especially might have 
suited the inhabitants of Brobdinomaar, as among those 
left for seed I pulled up one measuring more than eighteen 
inches in circumference. It is scarcely necessary to add 
that we did not eat radishes which had attained these 
dimensions. Melons, pumpkins, and cucumbers are 



PEACH MONTES. 



171 



raised without difficulty ; onions also flourish in the most 
wonderful way, and if our animals had only multiplied 
as quickly as our vegetables, we should have grown 
rapidly rich. We planted about a thousand peach trees 
round our house, intending them to form in time a small 
monte, the peach growing more rapidly here than any 
other tree, and beginning after three years' growth to 
bear fruit. My readers can easily imagine the beauty of 
a grove of peaches covered with the lovely pink blossom ; 
and the gardens round Rosario used to look in spring 
much like the descriptions one reads of the groves of 
Ispahan. We planted, also, quantities of poplars, willows, 
ombre, paraiso trees, and a great many others, besides 
long hedges, round our newly-ploughed land, of sino sino, 
a kind of acacia, which grows very rapidly ; it has thorns 
of the most formidable description, very thick foliage, 
and bunches of pretty yellow flowers, a good deal like 
laburnum, and in a few years forms a capital hedge, quite 
impervious to any animal with which I am accquainted. 
We also made hedges of cactus, the common sort which 
one sees generally in Italy, and which always reminds 
me of the backs of hair-brushes. It springs up round any 
hut, or erection, and grew round our old house, as soon 
as we put it up ; but it is a little more difficult to manage 
than sino sino. The other sorts of cactus, with long, 
rope-like leaves and beautiful scarlet blossoms, are found 
wild in the montes ; but there are very few wild flowers 
in the open camp, the scarlet and purple verbenas, which 
grow in enormous patches, looking like pieces of red or 
violet carpet rolled out on the grass, being the commonest. 
In the montes the flowers are lovely, and the climate is 
extremely well suited for all kinds of plants. 

We now began to plant some flowers in our garden, 
which soon looked very gay ; and indeed a very few 
years' growth of flowers and trees will make the estancias 



172 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



round Frayle Muerto as attractive as any place in the 
world. 

Our poor rams did not, however, find the pampas, in 
spite of all these delights, at all suitable to their health ; 
they seemed very happy at first, but after some weeks 
one of them became ill ; his throat swelled, and in spite 
of the most affectionate attentions from his proprietors, he 
soon died. We fancied he had been bitten by a snake, or, 
perhaps, by one of the enormous spiders I have mentioned ; 
but I think this was not the case, as all his companions 
gradually followed him, to our sincere sorrow, and I 
think their death put the final touch to our disgust at 
sheep-farming, which is certainly not a very profitable 
occupation just now. Of course if the breed of sheep could 
be really improved, it would become just as lucrative here 
as in England ; but a great deal of care is required for 
the acclimatisation of European sheep, and we certainly 
were not very lucky in our experiments. 

We had for a long time been endeavouring to get an 
English clergyman appointed as chaplain to the district 
round Frayle Muerto, the nearest English service being 
at Buenos Ayres, and therefore of no use to us ; but it was 
not till April 1868 that a clergyman was sent by the 
South American Missionary Society to Rosario and the 
surrounding camps. We held a short service in our 
house every Sunday morning for our own people, but 
were all very glad when we heard that henceforth the 
Rosario chaplain was to perform the service once in every 
month at one of the estancias near Frayle Muerto. The 
first place he officiated at was the Algarobitas ; and the 
service there was very well attended, about forty people 
being collected, some of whom had ridden nearly thirty 
miles to be present at the first English service held in 
this wild part of the pampas. It was arranged that the 
chaplain should take all the estancias in turn, but we 



LISADA'S ADVENTURES. 



173 



hope before long to have a resident clergyman in Frayle 
Muerto. 

Soon after this there was again an alarm of Indians in 
the camp, though on this occasion they did not reach 
Monte Molino. Lisada, who had come down to us for a 
short visit, went out one day campearing, taking with him 
a small brother whom he had brought with him, generally 
known as Tanne, an abbreviation, I believe, of Stanislaus. 
They were looking out for stray cattle, when the Indians 
suddenly appeared, and pouncing upon Lisada, whose 
horse was too tired for him to attempt to escape, carried 
him off with them to act as vaqueano. Tanne, who 
was at some little distance when the Indians rode up, 
being well mounted, made his escape, and got safely 
to S.'s estancia, where he related what had occurred, and 
poor Lisada was mourned for as dead by all his 
friends. I was in Frayle Muerto at the time, and about 
two days after this melancholy news reached me, was 
walking in the street, when I met a friend of Lisada's 
who suddenly informed me that Lisada had just reap- 
peared none the worse for his sojourn among the Indians. 
I went off to his house to see whether this was true, and 
found him safely returned, and very comfortable in bed, 
resting from his fatigues, as he had only come back very 
late the evening before. Lisada soon proceeded to relate 
his adventures, and told me that he had been seized by a 
party of about thirty Indians, who were soon joined by a 
much larger number. They informed him that he was 
required to act as a guide, and asked him where he came 
from. On learning that it was from Monte Molino they 
were very desirous he should take them down there, but 
he told them that in consequence of the frequent visits 
which we had lately had from their fellow-countrymen, 
there was really nothing worth their taking, as we had 
only a few horses a. .d bullocks left; upon which they held a 



174 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



council, and soon resolved to go to the Esquina Ballas- 
teros, a small village, near which was an estancia belonging 
to the father of Don Nasario, the Comandante at Frayle 
MuertO, and not far from which was M.'s property. 
When they got near the estancia they left Lisada with 
some of the Indians, the rest going up to attack the house. 
Shots were soon heard, and after a little time thick smoke 
began to rise from the house, showing too plainly that the 
unhappy party within had had the worst of it. The in- 
terpreter afterwards told Lisada that the place had been 
very bravely defended by two or three men and the negro 
servant, who acted as capataz, but the Indians at length 
got in and killed them all. After this they drove off every 
single head of horses, cattle, and even the sheep, intending 
the latter, no doubt, for provisions on the way. Soon after 
the destruction of the estancia, they caught an unfortu- 
nate Gaucho, who made a desperate effort to escape, and 
was only captured after several leagues' chase. This ap- 
peared to enrage the Indians very much, and after tying 
his hands together, they ordered him to kneel down, and 
in this position soon despatched him with their long lances. 

Lisada's feelings while this was going on must have 
been anything but pleasant, but he dared not show the 
sympathy he felt for the poor man (who as a last request 
asked him for a cigarette) lest the Indians in their excited 
state should instantly turn upon him. Several of them, 
however, came up to him after this, telling him not to be 
afraid, as he was an 6 hombre muy guapo ' (a very brave 
man), and adding that they remembered him at Monte 
Molino, when we received them so'kindly, and in return 
for this he should not be injured. They then gave him 
an old horse to ride away on, shook hands with him, and 
wished him good-bye, upon which he very willingly took 
leave of them, and made the best of his way back to Frayle 
Muerto, greatly overjoyed at this unexpected escape, upon 
which I warmly congratulated him. 



DON NASAKIO. 



175 



I met M. directly afterwards, who told me that the 
Indians had also been seen near his house, trying to drive 
off his horses, but upon the party within the house sally- 
ing out they instantly took to flight, and no more was seen 
of them. I then went to condole with Don Nasario on 
his family misfortunes, and tried hard to persuade him to 
get up an expedition against the Indians, who were sup- 
posed to be still in the neighbourhood, lying in wait for a 
tropilla of carts which were daily expected from Mendoza, 
robbing one of these caravans being one of the forms of 
pillage to which they were most partial, as it offered a 
very large booty combined with little danger of any resist- 
ance with firearms, the Gauchos being nearly as much 
afraid to use them as the Indians. Don Nasario, however, 
declined the expedition, saying that he could not get up 
a sufficient number of men, horses, or arms, and though 
several of the English settlers offered to accompany him, 
he was not to be induced to sally forth. His father, Don 
Benito, had, luckily for himself, been in Frayle Muerto 
at the time of the attack on the estancia, and so escaped. 
It was, of course, more Don Nasario's affair than ours, 
and seeing he was not to be persuaded, we let the matter 
rest. 

Lisada, after this, remained in Frayle Muerto, where I 
believe him at this moment to be flourishing, unless he 
has been deported to the frontier, in compliance with a law 
prevailing in this part of the world, that any Argentine 
idling in the towns may be at once taken down to the 
frontier, where he is obliged to exert himself, the ruling 
powers in this country having, I suppose, the same objec- 
tion to loafers which some of the English settlers feel. 
This law appears to me almost worthy of Plato's Ideal 
Kepublic, but the Argentines have not yet quite reached 
the state of feeling in everything which he contemplated. 

No more was seen of the Indians after this, and things 
went on very quietly for the next four months. Our 



176 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



wheat crop promised well ; we ploughed up a large tract 
of land to be sown in November with maize, we seemed 
likely to have a large supply of potatoes, and our garden 
was in a very satisfactory state ; our men worked well, and 
altogether the estancia again assumed a prosperous ap- 
pearance. We had settled down in our new house into 
civilised ways, dining at sunset very comfortably together, 
and spending the evenings chiefly in reading the welcome 
supplies of books which our friends at home sent out to 
us from time to time. Hume was still detained in Eng- 
land, but James W. had returned to Monte de la Lena, 
where he was warmly welcomed back by all his friends. 

Our affairs being in this promising state I resolved to 
take this opportunity of paying a visit to England, and 
about the middle of October bade adieu to Monte Molino. 
My brother accompanied me, intending to see me off from 
Buenos Ayres. After wishing all my friends in the 
neighbourhood f Good-bye,' I went down to Frayle Muerto, 
and took leave of all the worthy inhabitants, promising to 
execute all sorts of commissions in England, one of which 
was to bring out for Lisada the most georgeous poncho 
which money could purchase. He took an affectionate leave 
of me, wishing me f buen viaje, y vuelve pronto ' (a good 
journey and a speedy return). We stayed a few days at 
Las Rosas, and while waiting for our train at the Canada 
de Gomez station, met S, just returning from Europe, ac- 
companied by twelve young Englishmen, who had come 
out to settle close to him. He had agreed that they 
should rent small portions of his estate for agriculture, 
and they all intended to live close together, so as to form 
a strong body in case of any Indian attacks. This is 
certainly an excellent idea, and more likely to lead to a 
rapid settlement of the country than any other plan which 
has yet been devised. We wished all success to S. and 
his band of colonists, and went on to Buenos Ayres, where 



HOMEWAKD VOYAGE. 



177 



I quickly secured my passage on board the mail. My 
brother and two or three friends accompanied me on 
board, and as the Arno steamed slowly away I watched 
them sailing back to the mole with many wishes that they 
also were with me. 

My voyage home was rapid and prosperous ; in addition 
to the places touched at on our way out, we stopped at 
Pernambuco and St. Yincent. There is a curious natural 
breakwater of rocks at Pernambuco extending some miles 
along the shore, behind which is a small harbour. On the 
2nd of December I again beheld the well-known head- 
lands of the Isle of Wight, and we ran into Southamp- 
ton that same afternoon. I at once landed myself and 
my luggage, which included a great variety of things of 
which I had taken charge, among them being a parrot 
who had lost his feathers in the course of the voyage, and 
numerous enquiries as to whether he felt the cold were 
made as I walked up the street at Southampton, carrying 
the unlucky foreigner on my wrist. The express train 
soon whirled me up to Waterloo, and I was once again 
amid all the well-known sights and sounds of the metro- 
polis. The regular tramp of the policeman on his beat 
replaced the ( serenos ' shouting the hour and state of the 
weather. Passengers pushed by, and omnibuses prepared 
to run over me, in a way very different from the stately 
tread of the Spaniards, and the slow procession of bullock 
carts. My revolver had become as useless as the arque- 
buses in the Tower, and, amid all the rush and roar of 
London, Indians, Grauchos, pampas, and estancias seemed 
fading away like a dream. 



N 



178 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



POSTSCEIPT. 



Having told the tale of my four years' experience in the 
Pampas, my readers may naturally ask, What is the moral 
of my story ? Am I content with the country which I have 
adopted ? And do I desire to recommend it to others ? 
Or is it my object to proclaim that my enterprise is a 
failure, and should be a warning to my fellow-country- 
men, either to stay at home, or else to choose some other 
part of the world in which to seek their fortunes ? To 
these questions I readily reply ; and, first of all, I must 
confess that if I and my companion had had four years 
ago the experience which we now have of the fine camp 
on the banks of the Saladillo, we should not have been so 
ready to pitch our tents there. Our distance from the little 
town of Frayle Muerto has added greatly to our labours ; 
so has our position to the south of the Saladillo, making it 
necessary to cross that river, frequently with great diffi- 
culty, whenever we had occasion to go to Frayle Muerto ; 
the Terceiro also being without a bridge till within the 
last twelve months. The want of wood has also been a 
most serious embarrassment to us ; and it has been labo- 
rious and costly to us to obtain it for our fencing and 
building. But our worst trouble of all has been the in- 
cursions of the Indians, and the serious losses which their 
depredations have entailed upon us, besides the consequent 
inability to increase our cattle. Admitting the serious 
nature of these three hindrances to our success, I must ac- 
knowledge that our selection of land was not a wise one. 



POSTSCRIPT, 



]79 



On the other hand, it must be remembered that our chief 
object was to put on cattle largely, and sheep; and that, 
with no mistake about the excellence of our pastures, and 
also abundance of water in a river boundary of six miles, 
the only real impediment to our success has been the in- 
cursions of the Indians; for there is no difficulty in 
driving cattle to market, and our wool is easily conveyed 
to the rail. We cannot deny that we were told to expect 
such enemies ; and we must admit, first, that we held 
them cheaper than was their due ; and, secondly, that we 
trusted also to the good will and the power of the Govern- 
ment to protect us from them. But the long and un- 
happily protracted war with Paraguay has for some time 
past drained the Argentine .Republic of all their soldiers ; 
and the Government has been powerless to protect us. 
Our neighbours nearer Frayle Muerto have found a sub- 
stitute for cattle and sheep-farming in the growth of 
wheat and maize, to which they are now adding flax. We 
took last year to the same resource, and ploughed forty 
acres for wheat and ninety for maize. The first crop of 
wheat from land in the Pampas newly broken is seldom 
very good ; but I learn that our yield of wheat has been 
sufficient to encourage us to grow more, and our maize 
crop was large. With the help of our wool we shall thus, 
I believe, this year pay our expenses. We hope next 
year to get in two hundred acres of wheat, besides a larger 
quantity of maize ; and we shall probably make trial of 
flax also. I think it likely that a good thing maybe done 
by this cultivation of the soil, apart from sheep and cattle ; 
but it is to the combination of both that we now look for 
success. The Paraguayan war being virtually ended, we 
reckon confidently on the Government to protect us from 
the Indians. In times past presidents of the Republic 
have succeeded in altogether stopping for many continu- 
ous years those raids on both the natives and settlers ; 



180 



PIONEERING IN THE PAMPAS. 



and things have now come to such a pass that the Govern- 
ment must come to our help, or else the confidence with 
which foreigners are flocking to those Pampas, to the in- 
creasing prosperity of the Republic, will be shaken, and 
the immigration stopped. Whenever such protection is 
awarded to us, we shall again give free scope to the in- 
crease of our cattle and our sheep. We may then hope to 
be no longer the only settlers to the south of the Saladillo, 
and with new neighbours new facilities both of traffic and 
communication are sure to spring up. Why should not 
those little jars marked Liebig, with which all good house- 
keepers in England are fast becoming familiar, be filled 
on the banks of the Saladillo as well as on those of the 
Uruguay ? And those cases of beef and mutton from 
Australia — why should we not supply them from the 
Pampas ? Thus, notwithstanding our losses and discou- 
ragements, I see no reason to despair of our success ; and, 
provided the Government will defend their frontiers from 
the Indians, I can still encourage others to come and 
settle in our neighbourhood. Where will they find pas 
tures of so fine a quality to be purchased at so low a 
price ; with a fine climate, and many of their fellow- 
countrymen within easy reach ; with a line of railroad, too, 
about thirty miles off, and a post by four mails monthly 
to England, of five weeks only from our little town to 
London ? All that is wanted is our protection from the 
Indians. We have shown our trust in the Government by 
staking our fortunes in their country. We believe that 
with the return of peace they will think it their plain duty 
to grant us this protection. We have great confidence in 
the newly-elected President, Senor Sarmiento, and we 
cannot believe that, with the power to help us, he will do 
us the injustice to leave us longer in our helpless condition. 



Spottiswoode & Cc, Printers, London and Westminster. 



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Death of Richard Arthur Hamilton Seymour 
April 8 th, 1906. 

Profound regret has been felt in Maidstone at 
the death of Mr. R.A.H. Seymour, which occurred on 
Sunday morning in a Nursing Home in London. 

He received his education at the Charter Housi 
and University College, Oxford, and then studied for 
a time at the Royal Agriculture College, Cirencester 
From there he went to Argentine, where he spent four 
years, returning to England in 1868. His connection 
with Kent commenced 31 years ago, when he was ap- 
pointed by Lord Romney his agent for the Mote Park 
Estate. Four years later he undertook the managemen" 
of Preston Hall Estate. He soon gained a reputation 
as a sportsman and agriculturist. Mr. Seymour was a 
Conservative, one might call him a typical Tory. He 
did valuable work for his party, where he was later 
to hold the position of leader. 

He was Secretary to the Farm and Fruit Society 
It was in 1883 that Mr. Seymour became Quarter-master 
of the "D" Troop of West Kent Yeomanry, while in 
1900 he received a step in rank and became Lieut, ani 
vuartermaster, a position he held till hia death. Hs 
was an excellent officer, beloved by his men. 

The Mid Kent Agricultural Association was 
another institution that benefitted by the interest 
Mr. Seymour took in it. He became a member of the 
Maidstone Town Council in 1892, and in 1893 was 
elected Mayor. 

As Chief Magistrate for the Borough he enter- 
tained the Duke of Cambridge when His Royal Highn»ss 
opened the Technical Schools. Upon the close of his 
year of office the Corporation made him a presenta- 
tion of a loving cup and silver candlesticks as a 
memento of a successful mayorality, "carried out in 
a hearty and zealous manner." 

For many years the deceased gentleman's home 
was "Raigersfield" but some years ago he took posses- 
sion of Boxley Abbey, the historic mansion at Boxley, 
about three miles from Maidstone. 

Mr. Seymour married in 1878 Miss Baillie Ham- 
ilton; they had three daughters. 



